There are a few basic rules of thumb with energy stocks that seem to work out more often than not. You want to find companies that are able to find new oil and gas cheaply and are able to produce that oil and gas cheaply. Simple, I know. But simple seems to be working just fine for EOGResources (NYSE:EOG).
This Houston-based company focuses mostly on onshore natural gas, but that doesn't mean it's another run-of-the-mill gas company. Instead, management seems to have found a way to couple tight cost control with good exploration and production growth.
For the first quarter, that translates into 58% revenue growth. That growth was in turn supported by roughly 10% higher production and almost 30% better average price realizations. Operating cost growth is a common concern these days, and a rough calculation seems to suggest that operating costs were up about 12% this quarter relative to production growth. And while there are a couple different ways to analyze the earnings per share figure (based on how you treat hedging), the company safely surpassed expectations.
What I have to say about EOG Resources' prospects really isn't that different from what I've said about Chesapeake (NYSE:CHK), Anadarko (NYSE:APC), Occidental (NYSE:OXY), and other energy producers. Namely, that natural gas prices are a major risk factor but that solidly run companies are a good way to mitigate that risk.
I truthfully have no idea what'll happen with natural gas prices and I'd be very skeptical of anyone who claims to know. After all, there's a lot of speculation in the energy markets these days, and that tends to divorce prices from underlying supply and demand. That can't go on forever, of course, and it's also true that consumption of natural gas continues to rise.
I'd be careful about making huge bets on natural gas players, but that doesn't mean I'd avoid them all indiscriminately. After all, quality operators will generally tend to do better than the markets overall. And so while EOG Resources won't go down as my favorite energy idea, it should still do OK, barring some real ugliness in the natural gas markets.
For more energetic Foolishness:
- Chesapeake: Full of Gas and Making Cash
- Can Andarko Shore Up Price With Volume?
- What More Can Occidental Petroleum Do?
Fool contributor Stephen Simpson has no financial interest in any stocks mentioned (that means he's neither long nor short the shares).
