These Small Caps Are at the Heart of the New American Energy Boom

If you need any confirmation that North America is experiencing a renaissance in oil and gas production, today’s essay is for you…

For confirmation, we just look at the earnings and growth rates of some top “oil service” stocks… specifically, the leading “frackers.”

Regular Growth Stock Wire readers know how new technologies – like hydraulic fracturing (fracking) and horizontal drilling – have opened up massive amounts of undiscovered oil and gas. This new technology is causing an explosion in oil and gas production.

From 1990 to 2010, U.S. natural gas production climbed 25%. And oil production is just beginning to ramp up. As Porter Stansberry pointed out last week…

The Bakken field of Montana and North Dakota alone likely holds more than 20 billion barrels. And Eagle Ford likely holds more than 20 billion barrels, too. Likewise, the Marcellus field in western Pennsylvania and New York probably contains more than 20 billion barrels. Each one of these fields will double our country’s existing reserves.

The companies that sell the “picks and shovels” of this frac boom are seeing their sales and earnings balloon…

Company	Market Cap	Revenue Growth in Latest Quarter	Earnings Growth in Latest Quarter
RPC Inc. (RES)	$2.9 billion	66%	78%
Trican (TCW.TO)	$2.6 billion	62%	93%
Calfrac (CFW.TO)	$1.2 billion	60%	41%
C&J Energy (CJES)	$1.0 billion	173%	207%
Canyon (FRC.TO)	$770 million	58%	75%

These companies all focus on “fracking services.” That includes setting up massive water tanks… building storage units full of sand and other “proppants” that help hold the rock open once it’s been fractured… and managing the piping and pumps that deliver the materials down into the well. The process includes dozens or even hundreds of people, depending on the size of the job.

All these companies are expected to grow profits anywhere between 15% and 40%. And right now, they’re cheap. C&J Energy is trading for just eight times trailing earnings. The most expensive on the list – Canyon – is just 13.4 times trailing earnings. These companies are the heart of the New American Energy Boom… but their shares haven’t boomed yet.

While we can’t expect each of these companies to average double-digit earnings growth forever, this trend is likely to last at least until the end of the decade.

In short, the “picks and shovels” of the New American Energy Boom are doing a huge and growing business. Many of them are trading for reasonable valuations. That’s a recipe for a great growth investment.

Good investing,

– Larsen KusickSource: Growth Stock Wire

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