For Investors Only: Profit Margins for Selected Bakken E&P Companies (2010) -- North Dakota, USA

For background why I am posting this information, you should read the previous post. I am posting this information, not so much to compare company with company, but to hold as a baseline in preparation for future numbers.

When the fourth quarter (calendar) earnings come out this month, it might be (and then again it might not be) enlightening to compare those numbers with past numbers.

The profit margins below were taken from Yahoo!Financial on January 16, 2011. (Market cap in billions in parentheses.) All figures rounded.

CLR ($11): 29
BEXP ($3): 23
WLL ($7): 19
QEP ($7): 15

OAS ($3): -35
KOG ($1): 6

NOG ($1): 23

DNR ($8): 16

NFX ($10): 34
EOG ($26): 9
HES ($27): 7

COP ($100): 6
CVX ($187): 9
XOM ($393): 8

OXY ($79): 22


Comments: 

Oasis is a "new" company, and is two to three years behind "profit margin" statistics compared to the rest. KOG might be one to two years behind the "profit margin" statistics compared to the rest. Their efforts were delayed by bureaucratic issues associated with Fort Berthold Indian Reservation where most of their holdings are.

DNR is focused on enhanced oil recovery, and most of their holdings are outside of North Dakota.

NFX (Newfield) is one I  have overlooked during the entire boom. Shame on me. I will be posting more on Newfield later. For those who are interested, and don't want to wait, you can go to their website. I suggest looking at their history first, and then their current presentation. I don't know to what extent NFX will be affected by the events in the Gulf of Mexico. NFX is a relative newcomer to North Dakota. [NFX has nothing to do with the movie rental business; that would be NFLX. Make a one-letter mistake buying/selling shares on-line and you might be in for a surprise. Just saying.]

For the size of OXY (compare with COP),  I was impressed with OXY's profit margins. Maybe that's why OXY commands the market cap that it does.

It's hard to say how CLR, BEXP, and WLL will do with the next report. BEXP's expenses, I would think, have remained fairly stable, but CLR's expenses, due to increased number of rigs, may affect their profit margins going forward. If CLR's profit margins actually increase, that should speak volumes to a non-business-educated layman like me.