Two Stocks to Buy to Tap Into the Massive Wolfcamp Shale

Garrett Baldwin

There's no better place to start your search for the best oil stocks to buy now than deep in the heart of Texas – especially its shale formations.

Texas has two of the largest shale formations in the country. One, the Eagle Ford shale in the southeast part of the state, has been a hot topic among investors for years.

The other, the Permian Basin, has multiple formations, including the Cline Shale, that have grown increasingly attractive (and potentially lucrative) as new discoveries have been made.

These new discoveries are making the Permian Basin the most oil-rich region in the nation.

But one shale formation in the Permian Basin – the Wolfcamp – has stood out in particular, and it's poised to make investors a big score this year.

In fact, some analysts estimate that the Wolfcamp Shale formation is the second-largest oil field in the world.

The Wolfcamp Shale Formation: Vast Untapped Potential

According to some estimates, the Wolfcamp Shale contains up to 50 billion barrels of oil equivalent – second in the world after Saudi Arabia's Ghawar.

That compares to the Bakken, which the U.S. Geological Survey in April 2013 estimated held a total of 7.4 billion barrels of recoverable oil.

This field is more challenging than the one in Saudi Arabia thanks to a complex geology that requires higher production costs. The Wolfcamp is actually three different shale formations stacked atop each other like a layer cake.

The "upper" Wolfcamp Shale formation sits 3,800 feet beneath the ground. The "lower" Wolfcamp Shale formation sits 5,700 feet deep. And the Cline Shale is a little more than 7,300 feet below ground level.

Being able to tap into the various levels requires a great amount of technological prowess – an ability a number of oil and gas companies now have and can put to use thanks to the recent fracking boom.

Given the technological abilities of American engineers to tap these fields, a wide number of companies and investors have rushed to purchase available land so production can begin.

Two Stocks to Buy to Profit from the Wolfcamp Shale

There are two companies working in the Wolfcamp Shale formation that are among the best stocks to buy to profit from this discovery.

The first is a defensive play against lower oil prices in 2014, while the other has the confidence of three of America's greatest investment minds…

Garrett Baldwin

About the Author

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Garrett Baldwin is a globally recognized research economist, financial writer, and consultant with degrees from Northwestern, Johns Hopkins, Purdue, and Indiana University. He is a seasoned financial and political risk analyst, with a focus on stocks, hedge funds, private equity, blockchain, and housing policy. He has conducted risk assessment projects for clients in 27 countries, and consulted on policy and financial operations for some of the nation's largest financial institutions, including a $1.5 trillion credit fund, a $43 billion credit and auto loan giant, as well as two of the largest Wall Street banks by assets under management.

Garrett joined Money Map Press as an economist and researcher in 2011, specializing in alternative strategies with an emphasis on fundamental and technical analysis.

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