Beyond the Bell: Energy Outlook
The EnerCom Oil & Gas Conference brings together top industry players and investors from around the globe.
Tommy McCall
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E-mailJeffrey Ventura, president and COO of Range Resources Corp. (RRC), one of 90 presenting companies at the 2010 EnerCom Oil & Gas Conference in Denver this summer, says his company is betting on shale. Through its 2004 discovery of the Marcellus Shale, which stretches from West Virginia to northeastern Pennsylvania, the company has the opportunity to grow eight to 10 times over, Ventura says. “We’re directing more than 80 percent of our capital spending toward the Marcellus Shale in 2010,” he says.
Ventura was one of 2,000-plus attendees at the 15th annual conference, which NYSE Euronext (NYX) has sponsored since inception. In fact, 98 percent of the market value of all qualified oil and gas companies is listed on NYSE Euronext.
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According to Greg Barnett, founder and president of EnerCom, an investor communications consultancy firm that serves the industry, the event has become a must-attend for industry players. Barnett says he can directly measure the quality of the conference by the EnerCom Index. Designed in 2003, the index represents a stock price-weighted basket of all of the conference presenters (making adjustments every year as the roster changes). From August 2003 through July 2010, he says, the EnerCom Index has outperformed both the S&P 500 and the S&P Energy Index (see chart). “We select companies we believe are going to perform beyond the market’s expectations and that the market will respond to positively,” he says. “This is a great place for investors to meet management and think about their portfolios for the next 12 months or so.”
Less quantifiable but no less tangible is the impact that the conference has had on the industry itself, Barnett says. Many connections have led to partnerships and industry breakthroughs, such as technological innovations or the identification of new exploration opportunities, he adds. For example, in 2002, Pioneer Natural Resources Co. (PXD) expanded its business into Alaska after meeting with privately held exploration and production company Armstrong Oil and Gas. The result was the discovery of the Oooguruk oil field in 2003.
In addition to the live audience, thousands participated online, watching Webcasts by and interviews with top presenters. Visit theoilandgasconference.com and oilandgas360.com to view the archived presentations and interviews.
