For Investors: Analysts -- Oil Headed For $100, Probably Higher Later in Year; Mentions Bakken Companies Favored

Link here.

Their recommendations:

MLV's Pacanovsky ignores speculative swings in oil and instead focuses on longer-term trends in evaluating oil stocks. Right now, she likes Kodiak Oil & Gas because of its big leverage to oil and sizeable position in the Bakken shale, and Magnum Hunter Resources, which has a presence in three of the "hottest" shale basins in the United States: the Bakken, Eagle Ford and Marcellus.

Youngberg of Edward Jones likes Chevron and Royal Dutch Shell for their strong growth outlook and attractive dividend yields of 3% and 4.7%, respectively. 

He also thinks that Hess Corp. is undervalued and operational improvements should help its share price relative to peers. 

My two cents worth with regard to KOG. Include CLR, WLL, and BEXP and you have a pretty good Bakken portfolio.

(On another note, note the phrase "speculative swings in oil" in the linked article above -- again, I haven't seen "speculative swings" in quite some time. The price of oil seems to be moving as one might expect based on world events and the strength of the dollar. I still see oil priced the next six months based on these ranges or bands:

• $60 - $80: supply and demand, fundamentals; cost to produce last barrel of oil
• $80 - $100: weakness, strength of the dollar
• >$100: unexpected shocks in the industry

When oil is trading between $80 and $100, I expect most movement to be based on strength of dollar, and to some extent, global economic news.

When there is sudden movement from one band to the next, it is due to tectonic shifts.

For example, moving from the current band ($80 - $100) to the lower band ($60 - $80) would mean there has been a sudden change (tectonic shift) somewhere; likewise a sudden jump from the middle band to $110 or higher would suggest a sudden change (tectonic shift) somewhere.

For example, if Kadafi were to negotiate an exit, and the rebels re-establish full Libyan oil export potential while oil is still being released from the strategic reserves, I could see oil in free fall to $70.

Instead of "speculative" swings, I wish the analyst had used the phrase "wild swings" or even "large swings."

All things being equal, and if there is no double-dip recession, the supply/demand story suggests the bands will gradually shift up in 2012.)