Focus on quality when buying oil stocks

Article Excerpt

Oil prices fell from their July 2008 peak of $148 U.S. a barrel to just under $40 U.S. in February 2009. Prices have roughly doubled since then, but it’s unlikely they will soon surpass last year’s highs. Still, oil is a good hedge against inflation. We feel that the best way to cut your risk in the volatile resource sector is through well-established oil producers like these three. Their large reserves should last decades. Moreover, they focus on politically stable North America. SUNCOR ENERGY INC. $37 (Toronto symbol SU; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 1.6 billion; Market cap: $59.2 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 1.7; SI Rating: Average) is Canada’s largest oil producer following its purchase of Petro-Canada on August 1, 2009. Petro-Canada shareholders received 1.28 Suncor common shares for each Petro-Canada share they held. Suncor’s oil-sands operations, including Petro-Canada’s 12% stake in the massive Syncrude oil-sands development, account for two-thirds of its production. The remainder comes from conventional oil and natural gas…