WOW! Wall Street Likes What It Sees in EOG

Updates

Later, 10:44 pm: for newbies, these are the five "big" story lines regarding EOG

• first operator in the Bakken to build a crude-by-rail terminal (if not the first, one of the early ones)
• first operator in the Bakken to own its own sand mines in Minnesota/Wisconsin (if not the first, the most visible)
• one of the first natural gas companies to make early shift from natural gas to oil
• one of the few major Bakken-centric companies that "diversified" into the Eagle Ford
• lucky or smart (it doesn't matter which) with their Parshall oil field

My hunch regarding EOG and the Bakken: they will manage their Bakken assets very, very well in the Bakken, even if that means fewer rigs while waiting for better opportunities.

Later, 10:20 pm: this is the kind of earnings report that might get the attention of Wall Street, and again, remind them of tectonic changes in the oil and gas industry due to lessons learned in the Bakken:

EOG Resources Inc reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Monday as the U.S. exploration company sold more crude oil at higher prices.

Shares of EOG rose 1.3 percent to $118.40 in post-market trading. (That was yesterday; today EOG was up another $6.00 to $123.)

EOG also raised its 2012 total production growth target to 10.6 percent from 9 percent, citing gains in crude oil and liquids output.

EOG has targeted oil reserves trapped in rock like shale in basins including the Eagle Ford and the Bakken in North Dakota. Oil production grew 45 percent in the quarter, the company said.

"With especially strong, consistent individual well results, EOG's best plays have become even better," said Mark Papa, EOG's chairman and chief executive.

Original Post

I generally don't do this, write about share prices -- this is not an investment site. In between blogging, I occasionally check what the market is doing. I don't look at the market when the market is down or flat (I don't even look at the green/red arrows on the sidebar at the right), but I get a kick out of it when the market is doing well. But having not looked at individual companies in several days I was curious. Checking them out  in this order....WMB, T, CVX, then .... EOG. Wow!

Up $6 at the open. Huge. I do not recall any oil/gas company moving this much in one day under circumstances like we have right now (falling commodity prices with perhaps a bottoming).

But Wall Street must have liked what they saw in EOG. It's one of my favorites. Yes, I do hold shares in EOG. I resisted for quite some time, but a year or so ago, I forget when, I bought EOG when it expanded in the Eagle Ford. I was leery of investing in any more Bakken-only companies and EOG seemed to have it right: a) switching from predominantly natural gas to oil starting a year or so ago; and, then, b) involvement in the Eagle Ford. [Again, I could be wrong on all this; it's just my idle chatter, and world view, which is often wrong. But it seems that it what I recall about EOG.]

Regardless EOG with a recent high of $119 is now up to $123 today. Up $6. Pretty incredible. It was selling for $83 this past July. Let's see some of the links:

• Exceeds estimates despite falling profits
• Earnings outrun estimates again
• Output target raised
• Third quarter earnings report

Anyway, enough of this.  I can only handle so much excitement in one day.