Cut Your Oil Risk With These Three

Article Excerpt

This year, global oil consumption will probably fall for the first time since the early 1980s. We feel now is a good time to buy well-established oil companies that can take advantage of low oil prices. The three listed below are good examples; all have low debt and plenty of cash, which puts them in a good position to buy new properties or smaller producers, possibly at bargain prices. CHEVRON CORP. $64 (New York symbol CVX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 2 billion; Market cap: $128 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.7; WSSF Rating: Above Average) is the second-largest integrated oil company in the United States, after ExxonMobil. Oil production supplied 86% of its earnings in 2008; the remaining 14% came from its refineries and retail gas stations. In response to weaker energy prices, Chevron aims to conserve cash by temporarily suspending its share buyback program. (In 2008, it repurchased $8 billion of its stock.) It now holds $9.6 billion, or $4.70…