These quality oils can withstand volatility

Article Excerpt

Oil prices will likely stay volatile, particularly as slowing Asian economies cut their consumption. We feel the best way for investors to lower their risk is to stick with well-established producers like these two. Both have high-quality reserves that should last decades. CHEVRON CORP. $112 (New York symbol CVX; Conservative Growth Portfolio, Resources sector; Shares outstanding: 2.0 billion; Market cap: $224.0 billion; Price-to-sales ratio: 0.9; Dividend yield: 3.2%; TSINetwork Rating: Above Average; www.chevron.com) is the second-largest integrated oil company in the U.S. after ExxonMobil. Chevron is still assessing the damage caused by a fire at its oil refinery in Richmond, California. This facility processes 245,000 barrels of crude oil a day and accounts for 10% of the refining capacity on the U.S. west coast. It will likely be several months before it resumes normal operations. The company’s refineries supply just 11% of its earnings, so the outage should have little impact on its future profits. As well, Chevron’s selling prices for gasoline and…