Oil Stocks: Saudi Arabia Says Iran Will Pay the Price for Alleged Plot

By Rebecca Lipman and Eben Esterhuizen, Kapitall | More Articles
October 14, 2011 | Comments (1)

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Two naturalized U.S. citizens of Iranian origin, apparently with ties to the Iranian government, were arrested over an alleged plot to assassinate the Saudi ambassador in the United States. Saudi Arabia and the United States traded charges on Wednesday with Iran over the alleged plan.

"The Saudis, long at odds with Tehran, said Iran would 'pay the price' for an exotic plot described by U.S. officials to assassinate their ambassador. The United States threatened further sanctions on Iran, while Tehran called the accusation a fabrication designed to sow discord in the region," reports Reuters.

The ambassador is fine, but the news makes the market wonder: How will this affect oil stocks?

Any conflict between Saudi Arabia and Iran can, and often does, disrupt oil prices. The nations are actively involved in a "contest for power in the oil-rich Gulf" to which the United States is no stranger either.

What we want to know is this: Which oil stocks have the biggest upside potential in the event of an oil price spike?

To help you explore this idea, we started with a universe of about 120 stocks that have an exposure to the oil market.

To refine the list, we collected data on insider transactions, and identified the oil stocks that have seen significant insider buying over the last six months.

Insider executives are using their own money to buy into their employers -- do you think this is a bullish signal for the oil market? (Click here to access free, interactive tools to analyze these ideas.)

1. Crosstex Energy (Nasdaq: XTEX ) : Operates as an independent midstream energy company. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 176,490 shares, which represents about 0.65% of the company's 27.12M share float.

2. QR Energy (NYSE: QRE ) : Engages in the acquisition, production, and development of onshore crude oil and natural gas properties in the United States. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 63,300 shares, which represents about 0.37% of the company's 16.96M share float.

3. Energy Partners (NYSE: EPL ) : Operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company in the United States. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 200,000 shares, which represents about 0.7% of the company's 28.72M share float.

4. Panhandle Oil and Gas (NYSE: PHX ) : Engages in the acquisition, management, exploration, and development of oil and natural gas properties. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 2,151 shares, which represents about 0.03% of the company's 7.00M share float.

5. Triangle Petroleum (Nasdaq: TPLM ) : Engages in the acquisition, exploration, and development of unconventional shale oil resources in the Bakken Shale and Three Forks formations in the Williston Basin of North Dakota and Montana. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 880,000 shares, which represents about 2.26% of the company's 39.00M share float.

6. Isramco (Nasdaq: ISRL ) : Engages in the acquisition, development, production, and exploration of onshore oil and natural gas properties in the United States. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 15,170 shares, which represents about 1.55% of the company's 978.12K share float.

7. GMX Resources (Nasdaq: GMXR ) : Operates as an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company primarily in the United States. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 18,000 shares, which represents about 0.03% of the company's 52.69M share float.

8. CAMAC Energy (NYSE: CAK ) : Engages in the exploration and production of oil and gas. Over the last six months, insiders were net buyers of 568,600 shares, which represents about 0.98% of the company's 58.09M share float.

Interactive Chart: Press Play to compare changes in analyst ratings over the last two years for the stocks mentioned above. Analyst ratings sourced from Zacks Investment Research.

Kapitall's Eben Esterhuizen and Rebecca Lipman do not own any of the shares mentioned above.Insider data sourced from Yahoo! Finacne

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Report this Comment On October 20, 2011, at 4:06 PM, MHedgeFundTrader wrote:

I recently spent an evening with Ambassador Richard Jones, the Deputy Executive Director of the International Energy Agency in Paris, who had some eye opening things to say about the energy space. The IEA was first set up as a counterweight to OPEC during the oil crisis in 1974, and has since evolved into a top drawer energy research organization.
World GDP will grow an average 3.1%/year through 2030, driving oil demand from the current 84 million barrels/day to 103 million b/d. That means we will have to find the equivalent of six Saudi Arabia’s to fill the gap or prices are going up, possibly a lot. His conservative target has crude at $190 in twenty years. Some 39% of that increase in demand will come from China and 15% from India.
A collapse in investment caused by the financial crisis means that supply can’t recover in time to avoid another price spike. More than 1.5 billion people today don’t have electricity at all, but would love to have it. The best the climate negotiations can hope for is for CO2 to rise until 2020, and then plateau after that, because once this greenhouse gas enters the atmosphere it is very hard to get out.
This will require a massive decarbonization effort reliant on nuclear, hydro, alternatives, and carbon capture and storage. Up to half of the needed carbon reduction can be achieved through simple efficiency measures, like ditching the incandescent light bulb, driving more hybrids, and closing dirty, old coal fired power plants. Natural gas will be a vital bridge, as it is cheap, in abundant supply, and emits only half the carbon of traditional fossil fuels. The total 20 year bill for the rebuilding of our new energy infrastructure will exceed $10 trillion.
Richard, who comes from a long diplomatic career in Kuwait, Kazakhstan, and Israel, certainly didn’t pull any punches. I have been a huge fan of the IEA’s data for 35 years. Better use any weakness in oil prices to accumulate long term positions in crude through the futures, the offshore drilling companies like Transocean (RIG), and oil and gas plays, and (OXY) (click here for the link). When oil comes back, it will do so with a vengeance.

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