Top 10 Oil Companies For 2014

The S&P 500 has fallen for three straight days–and is staring at a fourth.

M. Scott Brauer for The Wall Street Journal

S&P 500 futures have dipped 0.1%, while Dow Jones Industrial Average futures have dropped 0.1%. Nasdaq Composite futures have ticked up 0.04%.

Shares of Penn Virginia (PVA) have gained 3% to $15.30 after the independent oil producer was upgraded to Buy from Hold at Stifel.

Seadrill (SDRL) has gained 1.5% to $39.38, as higher oil prices have likely given the offshore driller a boost.

Accuray (ARAY) has gained 2.7% to $9.03 after the surgical-device maker was upgraded to Overweight from Neutral at JPMorgan.

Brady (BRC) has gained 1.7% to $28.38 after it was upgraded to Buy from Underperform at Merill Lynch.

Aeropostale (ARO) has gained 6.3% to $3.55 for no apparent reason, at least one I haven’t been able to find yet.

Top Trucking Companies To Buy For 2015: Royal Dutch Shell PLC (RDSB)

Royal Dutch Shell plc (Shell), incorporated on February 5, 2002, is an independent oil and gas company. The Company owns, directly or indirectly, investments in the numerous companies constituting Shell. Shell is engaged worldwide in the principal aspects of the oil and gas industry and also has interests in chemicals and other energy-related businesses. The Company operates in three segments: Upstream, Downstream and Corporate. Upstream combines the operating segments Upstream International and Upstream Americas, which are engaged in searching for and recovering crude oil and natural gas; the liquefaction and transportation of gas; the extraction of bitumen from oil sands that is converted into synthetic crude oil, and wind energy. Downstream is engaged in manufacturing; distribution and marketing activities for oil products and chemicals, in alternative energy (excluding wind), and carbon dioxide (CO2) management. Corporate represents the key support functions, comprising holdings and treasury, headquarters, central functions and Shell�� self-insurance activities. In October 2011, the Company bought a marine terminal on Canada's Pacific Coast as a possible site for a liquefied natural gas export terminal. In January 2012, the Company's 50% owned, Australia Arrow Energy Holdings Pty Ltd acquired all of the shares in Bow Energy Ltd. In January 2014, Royal Dutch Shell plc completed the acquisition of Repsol S.A.'s liquefied natural gas (LNG) portfolio outside North America.

Upstream International manages the Upstream businesses outside the Americas. It searches for and recovers crude oil and natural gas, liquefies and transports gas, and operates the upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver oil and gas to market. Upstream International also manages Shell�� entire liquefied petroleum gas (LNG) business, gas to liquids (GTL) and the wind business in Europe. Its activities are organized primarily within geographical units, although there are some activities that are mana! ged across the businesses or provided through support units.

Upstream Americas manages the Upstream businesses in North and South America. It searches for and recovers crude oil and natural gas, transports gas and operates the upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver oil and gas to market. Upstream Americas also extracts bitumen from oil sands that is converted into synthetic crude oil. Additionally, it manages the United States-based wind business. It comprises operations organized into business-wide managed activities and supporting activities.

Downstream manages Shell�� manufacturing, distribution and marketing activities for oil products and chemicals. These activities are organized into globally managed classes of business, although some are managed regionally or provided through support units. Manufacturing and supply includes refining, supply and shipping of crude oil. Marketing sells a range of products including fuels, lubricants, bitumen and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for home, transport and industrial use. Chemicals produces and markets petrochemicals for industrial customers, including the raw materials for plastics, coatings and detergents. Downstream also trades Shell�� flow of hydrocarbons and other energy-related products, supplies the Downstream businesses, markets gas and power and provides shipping services. Downstream additionally oversees Shell�� interests in alternative energy (including biofuels, and excluding wind) and CO2 management.

Projects and Technology manages the delivery of Shell�� major projects and drives the research and innovation to create technology solutions. It provides technical services and technology capability covering both Upstream and Downstream activities. It is also responsible for providing functional leadership across Shell in the areas of health, safety and environment, and contracting and procurement.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jim Jubak]

  But, to my mind, the biggest news of last week for the valuation of Cheniere actually came from Royal Dutch Shell (RDSB). Europe's biggest oil company announced that it would halt plans to build a $20 billion natural gas of liquids plant in Louisiana, even though the state of Louisiana had agreed on $112 million in subsidies. The project would have used cheap US natural gas to produce 140,000 barrels a day of liquid fuels normally made from oil. Royal Dutch Shell cited rising costs and uncertainty about oil and natural gas prices by the time the plant entered operation, in canceling the project.

Top 10 Oil Companies For 2014: Devon Energy Corporation(DVN)

Devon Energy Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the acquisition, exploration, development, and production of natural gas and oil in the United States and Canada. It also involves in transporting oil, gas, and natural gas liquids (NGL); and processing natural gas. The company owns oil and gas properties in the mid-continent area of the central and southern United States; the Permian Basin in Texas and New Mexico; the Rocky Mountains area of the United States; and the onshore areas of the Gulf Coast, principally in south Texas and south Louisiana. It also owns oil and gas properties in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, and Saskatchewan, Canada. In addition, the company offers marketing and midstream services, including marketing of gas, crude oil, and NGL, as well as constructing and operating pipelines, storage and treating facilities, and natural gas processing plants. As of December 31, 2010, it had 2,042 million barrel of oil equivalent of proved developed reserves. The company sells its gas production to various customers, such as pipelines, utilities, gas marketing firms, industrial users, and local distribution companies; crude oil production to refiners, remarketers, and other companies; and NGL production to customers in petrochemical, refining, and heavy oil blending activities. Devon Energy Corporation was founded in 1971 and is headquartered in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Steven Russolillo]

  WATCH FOR: First-Quarter Productivity (8:30 a.m. Eastern Time): seen -1.1%; previously +1.8%. First-Quarter Unit Labor Costs (8:30): seen +2.8%; previously -0.1%. March Consumer Credit (3:00): seen +$16.1 B; previously $16.5B. Allergan(AGN), AOL(AOL), Avis Budget(CAR), CenturyLink, Chesapeake Energy(CHK), CF Industries(CF), Devon Energy(DVN), Duke Energy(DUK), Dynergy, Hertz, Humana, Keurig Green Mountain(GMCR), Lamar Advertising(LAMR), Molson Coors/Miller, Mondelez, Prudential, SolarCity(SCTY), Sotheby's(BID), Tesla Motors(TSLA), Transocean and 21st Century Fox are among companies scheduled to report quarterly results.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Chesapeake Energy� (NYSE: CHK  ) �recently held its annual investor day. Among the many topics the company discussed was its emerging position in the Powder River Basin in the Rocky Mountains, which it sees becoming a world-class asset. That enthusiasm isn't just being conveyed by Chesapeake Energy. Earlier this year,�EOG Resources� (NYSE: EOG  ) �announced that it was�adding four new Rocky Mountain oil plays�to its drilling inventory while�Devon Energy� (NYSE: DVN  ) �noted that it was drilling high-impact wells in the Powder River Basin.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  A bulk of the company's reserves are in the Barnett Shale of Texas. The company has 532.5 billion cubic feet equivalent of proved reserves here and, last year, it produced 70.5 million cubic feet equivalent per day from the play. The company's position in the play is dwarfed by Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN  ) , which has 14 trillion cubic feet equivalent of net-risked resource, and a drilling inventory of over 2,500 wells. Last quarter, the oil and gas giant produced 1.4 billion cubic feet equivalent per day, while growing its liquids production to 24% of the total production. What this means for EV Energy is that there is tremendous potential for it to grow in its core play, even as it captures opportunities to expand its portfolio.

Top 10 Oil Companies For 2014: Karoon Gas Australia Ltd (KRNGF)

Karoon Gas Australia Ltd (Karoon Gas) is an Australia-based exploration company. The Company is principally engaged in the hydrocarbon exploration and evaluation in Australia, Brazil and Peru. The Company operates in three segments: Australia, Brazil and Peru exploration. The Company�� Australia segment is involved in the exploration and evaluation of hydrocarbons in four offshore permit areas: WA-314-P, WA-315-P, WA-398-P and WA-482-P; The Company in its Brazil segment is involved in the exploration and evaluation of hydrocarbons in five offshore blocks including Block S-M-1037, Block S-M-1101, Block S-M-1102, Block S-M-1165 and Block S-M-1166. The Company under its Peru exploration segment is involved in the exploration and evaluation of hydrocarbons in two blocks in Peru, including Block 144 (onshore) and Block Z-38 (offshore). Advisors' Opinion:

• [By MARKETWATCH]

  LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- Australian stocks gave ground in early Friday trading, with banks broadly lower after overnight losses in the U.S., where investors worried that better-than-expected data would prompt the Federal Reserve to roll back stimulus soon. The S&P/ASX 200 (AU:XJO) lost 0.4% to 5,178.30, as National Australia Bank Ltd. (AU:NAB) (NAUBF) fell 1.8%, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group (AU:ANZ) (ANEWF) lost 0.8%, and Macquarie Group Ltd. (AU:MQG) (MCQEF) retreated 1.3%. Among the resource shares, losses for gold both in New York and in early Asian electronic trade helped send Evolution Mining Ltd. (AU:EVN) (CAHPF) down 1.9% and Kingsgate Consolidated Ltd. (AU:KCN) (KSKGF) off 4.5%, though Newcrest Mining Ltd. (AU:NCM) (NCMGF) held the drop to 0.4%. Oil prices managed a modest gain, however, resulting in a 0.2% rise for Oil Search Ltd. (AU:OSH) (OISHF) and Karoon Gas Australia Ltd. (AU:KAR) (KRNGF) , while Woodside Petroleum Ltd. (AU:WPL)

Top 10 Oil Companies For 2014: Neste Oil Corp (NES1V)

Neste Oil Corp is a Finland-based company engaged in the refining and marketing of petroleum and petroleum products. The Company has two business areas and four reporting segments. The business areas are: Oil Products & Renewables and Oil Retail. The reporting segments are: Oil Products, Renewable Fuels, Oil Retail and Others. The Oil Products & Renewables area produces and sells petroleum products such as gasoline, diesel fuel, aviation and bunker fuel, heating oil, heavy fuel oil, base oil, gasoline components, specialty fuels, fuels, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and bitumen as well as renewable diesel and aviation fuel under the brand name NExBTL. The Oil Retail area operates a network of 1,136 stations in Finland, the Russian Federations, the Baltic states and Poland, selling own products as well as lubricants and chemicals. The Company owns fuel refineries and production plants in Finland, Singapore and the Netherlands. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Sarah Jones]

  Neste Oil Oyj (NES1V) gained 4.8 percent to 12.04 euros. CA Cheuvreux SA upgraded Finland�� only refiner to outperform, the equivalent of a buy recommendation, from underperform, saying it expects it to report resilient first-quarter results this month.

• [By Corinne Gretler]

  Neste Oil Oyj (NES1V) declined 9.1 percent to 14.25 euros after Citigroups Inc. cut Finland�� only oil refiner to sell from neutral, citing a deterioration in key profitability drivers for both renewables and refining divisions.

Top 10 Oil Companies For 2014: Pacific Coast Oil Trust (ROYT)

Pacific Coast Oil Trust is a statutory trust formed by Pacific Coast Energy Company LP (PCEC) to own interests in the Underlying Properties. As of December 31, 2011, the Underlying Properties consisted of the proved developed reserves on the Underlying Properties, which it refers to as the Developed Properties, and all other development potential on the Underlying Properties, which it refers to as the Remaining Properties. The Underlying Properties are located in California in the Santa Maria and Los Angeles Basins. PCEC produces oil and natural gas from its Orcutt properties in the Santa Maria Basin. The production in the Orcutt oilfield is produced from formations utilizing conventional production methods.

PCEC is engaged in the production and development of oil and natural gas from properties located in California. As of December 31, 2011, PCEC held interests in approximately 276 gross (215 net) producing wells, and had proved reserves of approximately 34.1 million barrels of oil equivalent. The Underlying Properties consist of producing and non-producing interests in oil units, wells and lands located onshore in California in the Santa Maria Basin, which contains PCEC�� Orcutt properties, and the Los Angeles Basin, which contains PCEC�� West Pico, East Coyote and Sawtelle properties. As of December 31, 2011, there were 37 producing wells and six waterflood injection wells in the West Pico Unit. West Pico also includes three wells held by the Stocker JV, a joint venture between PCEC and PXP.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Rich Duprey]

  Perpetual royalty trust�Pacific Coast Oil Trust (NYSE: ROYT  ) announced yesterday its July distribution of $0.15721�per unit. The amount of the trust's monthly distributions will fluctuate depending on the proceeds it receives from its owner, Pacific Coast Energy, as a result of actual production volumes, oil and gas prices, and development expenses.� The current distribution relates to net profits and overriding royalties generated during May 2013.

Top 10 Oil Companies For 2014: Marathon Oil Corporation(MRO)

Marathon Oil Corporation, through its subsidiaries, operates as an international energy company with operations in the United States, Canada, Africa, the Middle East, and Europe. It operates through three segments: Exploration and Production, Oil Sands Mining, and Integrated Gas. The Exploration and Production segment explores for, produces, and markets liquid hydrocarbons and natural gas. The Oil Sands Mining segment mines, extracts, and transports bitumen from oil sands deposits in Alberta, Canada; and upgrades the bitumen to produce and market synthetic crude oil and vacuum gas oil. The Integrated Gas segment markets and transports products manufactured from natural gas, such as liquified natural gas and methanol. The company was formerly known as USX Corporation and changed its name to Marathon Oil Corporation in July 2001. Marathon Oil Corporation was founded in 1887 and is based in Houston, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Enbridge's proposal to reject crude with higher levels of the gas has not only caused it to fight against Plains, but it's not made producers like Marathon (NYSE: MRO  ) and Hess (NYSE: HES  ) happy either. Those two companies, as well as other Bakken operators, could be forced to shut down oil and gas production until a new form of transportation can be secured. Both companies, along with Plains, have filed with FERC to slow down the pace of Enbridge's plans to reject oil with high concentrations of hydrogen sulfide.

• [By Matt DiLallo]

  Among them is�Marathon Oil� (NYSE: MRO  ) , which has upped its guidance for Bakken production by 14% after a strong first quarter. The company thanks its increased utilization of rail capacity for helping it realize higher sales out of the region. During the first quarter, 45% of its Bakken crude oil was transported via rail, an important development in the play that enables producers to send oil to both coasts. Marathon has been further helped by some of the fastest drill times of its entire geographical portfolio; spud-to-spud time is just 25 days. This really helps boost the company's rate of return, which is very good for its bottom line.�

• [By Jon C. Ogg]

  Marathon Oil Corp. (NYSE: MRO) was raised to Buy from Hold with a $42 price target (versus a $34.90 close) at Argus.

  Marketo Inc. (NASDAQ: MKTO) was reinstated as Outperform with a $38 price target (versus a $31.49 close) at Credit Suisse.

Top 10 Oil Companies For 2014: Abby Inc (ABBY)

Abby, Inc., incorporated on December 11, 2000, is an exploration-stage company. The Company is in the business of natural gas exploration. On September 17, 2010, the Company acquired the Westrose property gas concession option from Mitchel Vestco Inc. As of November 30, 2010, the Company had completed Phase One of its exploration program. As of November 30, 2010, it had not generated any revenues.

The Westrose Property

The Westrose property is located in Alberta, Canada. The property consists of 640 acres. As of August 22, 2011, the Company had not commenced any exploration or work on the concession.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Peter Graham]

  Last Friday, small cap stocks Cambridge Heart, Inc (OTCMKTS: CAMH), Abby Inc (OTCMKTS: ABBY) and Grillit Inc (OTCMKTS: GRLT) surged 176.92%, 71.2% and 24.07%, respectively. Of course, that was last week and today is a new trading week. So what should investors and traders alike be prepared for this week with these three small caps? Here is a closer look to help you decide on an investing or trading strategy: