C. K. Cooper Senior Analyst Joel Musante likes oily exploration and production (E&P) names in name-brand plays, especially the Bakken. In this exclusive interview with The Energy Report, Joel discusses a few of his favorite names with underappreciated acreage or technology and talks about how he reaches his conclusions. The Energy Report: Joel, you've covered E&P companies for more than a decade for various firms. Tell us how you started covering this sector and why you're still doing it 10 years later.
Joel Musante: I started covering the sector when I was with W. R. Huff Asset Management after getting my MBA. At Huff, I was a credit analyst, and I performed due diligence on private equity deals. I think this provided a sound foundation for doing any kind of financial analysis. The E&P sector is probably one of the more exciting sectors to cover. Although economic growth may have slowed in the U.S., the emergence of China and India and some of the other Asian economies has us asking how we're going to meet all this future energy demand. For oil and natural gas, the E&P companies have probably been the best at answering that question, as opposed to the majors.
TER: How so?
JM: If you look at some of the big shale plays that have emerged recently—the Haynesville and the Bakken—the leaders in those plays have been the E&Ps. Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE:CHK) put the Haynesville play on the map a couple of years ago. And then EOG Resources (NYSE:EOG) and Brigham Exploration Co. (NASDAQ:BEXP) were on the forefront on the east and west frontiers of the Bakken Shale. Those were among the biggest new shale plays out there. (more)
No comments:
Post a Comment