Top-Rated Oil and Gas Stocks

OK, "Big Oil" may not be ruining your life, but that doesn't make the pain at the pump any less acute. And with the national average for regular gasoline almost $4 a gallon, and a barrel of crude oil perched around $115, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that oil and gas companies have the wind at their backs.

With that in mind, we'll use the aggregated intelligence of the 115,000-plus members participating in Motley Fool CAPS to find oil and gas stocks that the community likes -- those with four- and five-star ratings. The community's approval could be a sign that further research is in order.

Here are five such stocks:

Company	Primary Industry	% CAPS All-Star Bulls^	CAPS Rating (out of 5)	CAPS Research
TransMontaigne (NYSE: TLP  )	Oil & Gas Pipelines	100%	*****	TLP
Martin Midstream Partners LP (Nasdaq: MMLP  )	Independent Oil & Gas	100%	*****	MMLP
GulfMark Offshore (NYSE: GLF  )	Oil & Gas Equipment & Services	97.8%	*****	GLF
Barnwell Industries (AMEX: BRN  )	Independent Oil & Gas	100%	*****	BRN
Spectra Energy Partners LP (NYSE: SEP  )	Oil & Gas Pipelines	96%	*****	SEP

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of Aug. 24, 2008.^Percent of the All-Stars rating the stock who are bullish.

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