Top 5 Gas Companies To Own For 2014

Foolish investors have been longtime fans of first-movers in a new space, and Clean Energy Fuels (NASDAQ: CLNE  ) has certainly been in on the ground floor in the effort to build out a national network of natural gas fueling stations. Now, the challenge for it will be to outpace some of its newer, larger�competitors.

Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A  ) announced recently that it will be partnering with Travel Centers of America (NYSE: TA  ) to build out a network of natural gas fueling stations at Travel Centers of America's highway rest stations across the country. In this video, Fool.com contributor Tyler Crowe takes a look at the leading companies in this natural gas station rush, and sees one company that could benefit from this competition.

Hot Prefered Companies To Own In Right Now: Susser Petroleum Partners LP (SUSP)

Susser Petroleum Partners LP is primarily engaged in fee-based wholesale distribution of motor fuels to Susser Holdings Corporation (SHC) and third parties. SHC operates over 540 retail convenience stores under its Stripes convenience store brand. In addition to distributing motor fuel, the Company also distributes other petroleum products, such as propane and lube oil, and it receive rental income from real estate that it lease or sublease. In January 2014, Susser Petroleum Partners LP announced the acquisition of the convenience store assets and fuel distribution contracts of Sac-N-Pac Stores, Inc. and 3W Warren Fuels, Ltd.

During the year ended December 31, 2011, the Company distributed 789.6 million gallons of motor fuel to Stripes convenience stores and 522.8 million gallons of motor fuel to other customers. It also distributes Chevron, CITGO, Conoco, Exxon, Mobil, Phillips 66, Shamrock, Shell, Texaco and Valero branded motor fuel, as well as unbranded motor fuel. In addition to distributing motor fuel, it also distributes other petroleum products, such as propane and lube oil.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Rapier]

  Susser Petroleum Partners (NYSE: SUSP) debuted in September 2012, and has appreciated by 50 percent since. Susser engages in fee-based wholesale distribution of motor fuels. The partnership also distributes petroleum products like propane and lube oil, and receives rental income from real estate.

Top 5 Gas Companies To Own For 2014: Lonestar Resources Ltd (LNR)

Lonestar Resources Limited is an Australia-based independent oil and gas company involved in exploration, production, and acquisition of oil and gas reserves in the United States. The Company�� operations are focused onshore with primary activity in the Fort Worth Basin (Barnett Shale), Eagle Ford Shale, and the Williston Basin in Montana. The Company is active in sourcing other assets in producing areas. The Company�� Eagle Ford Shale portfolio comprises three separate assets: Beall Ranch, Asherton and Gonzo. The Company�� operations in the Williston Basin are focused on the Roosevelt County, Montana. The Company owns and operates a single lease in the Barnett Shale, a gas producing basin in North Texas. On January 2, 2013, the Company acquired Ecofin Energy Resources plc. In August 2013, the Company announced that it has sold its producing assets outside the state of Texas for its Louisiana assets and for its Oklahoma assets. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Lam]

  Linamar Corp. (LNR) soared 14 percent to a record C$40.72 for the biggest gain in the S&P/TSX. The Guelph, Ontario-based auto parts maker reported third-quarter adjusted profit of 80 Canadian cents a share, topping analysts��projections for 66 cents.

Top 5 Gas Companies To Own For 2014: PBF Energy Inc (PBF)

PBF Energy Inc. (PBF Energy), incorporated on November 7, 2011, is an independent petroleum refiners and suppliers of unbranded transportation fuels, heating oils, petrochemical feedstocks, lubricants and other petroleum products in the United States. The Company produces a range of products at each of its refineries, including gasoline, ultra-low-sulfur diesel (ULSD), heating oil, jet fuel, lubricants, petrochemicals and asphalt. The Company sells its products throughout the Northeast and Midwest of the United States, as well as in other regions of the United States and Canada, and are able to ship products to other international destinations. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned and operated three domestic oil refineries and related assets. The Company's refineries have a combined processing capacity of approximately 540,000 thousand barrels per day. The Company's three refineries are located in Toledo, Ohio, Delaware City, Delaware and Paulsboro, New Jersey.

The Company's Midcontinent refinery at Toledo processes light, sweet crude, has a throughput capacity of 170,000 thousand barrels per day and a Nelson Complexity Index of 9.2. Toledo's West Texas Intermediate (WTI) based crude is delivered through pipelines, which originate in both Canada and the United States. The Company's East Coast refineries at Delaware City and Paulsboro have a combined refining capacity of 370,000 thousand barrels per day and Nelson Complexity Indices of 11.3 and 13.2, respectively. These refineries process medium and heavy and sour crudes.

Delaware City Refinery

The Delaware City refinery is located on a 5,000-acre site, with access to waterborne cargoes and a distribution network of pipelines, barges and tankers, truck and rail. Delaware City is a fully integrated operation, which receives crude through rail at the crude unloading facility, or ship or barge at its docks located on the Delaware River. The crude and other feedstocks are transported, through pipes, to a tank! farm where they are stored until processing. In addition, there is a 17-bay, 50,000 thousand barrels per day capacity truck loading rack located adjacent to the refinery and a 23-mile interstate pipeline that are used to distribute clean products.

The Delaware City refinery has a throughput capacity of 190,000 thousand barrels per day and a Nelson Complexity Index of 11.3. The Delaware City refinery processes a range of medium to heavy, sour crude oils. The refinery has conversion capacity with its 82,000 thousand barrels per day fluid catalytic cracking (FCC) unit, 47,000 thousand barrels per day fluid coking unit (FCU) and 18,000 thousand barrels per day hydro cracking unit with vacuum distillation. Hydrogen is provided through the refinery's steam methane reformer and continuous catalytic reformer. The Delaware City refinery has total storage capacity of approximately 10 million barrels.

Paulsboro Refinery

Paulsboro has a throughput capacity of 180,000 thousand barrels per day and a Nelson Complexity Index of 13.2. The Paulsboro refinery is located on approximately 950 acres on the Delaware River in Paulsboro, New Jersey, just south of Philadelphia and approximately 30 miles away from Delaware City. Paulsboro receives crude and feedstocks through its marine terminal on the Delaware River. Paulsboro is one of two operating refineries on the East Coast with coking capacity, the other being Delaware City. Units at the Paulsboro refinery include crude distillation units, vacuum distillation units, an FCC unit, a delayed coking unit, a lube oil processing unit and a propane de-asphalting unit. The Paulsboro refinery processes a range of medium and heavy, sour crude oils. The Paulsboro refinery produces gasoline, heating oil and jet fuel and also manufactures Group I base oils or lubricants. In addition to its finished clean products slate, Paulsboro produces asphalt and petroleum coke. In addition, separate from the Company's agreement with Statoil the Company ha! s a long-! term contract with Saudi Aramco. The Paulsboro refinery has total storage capacity of approximately 7.5 million barrels. Of the total, approximately 2.1 million barrels are dedicated to crude oil storage with the remaining 5.4 million barrels allocated to finished products, intermediates and other products.

Toledo Refinery

Toledo has a throughput capacity of approximately 170,000 thousand barrels per day and a Nelson Complexity Index of 9.2. Toledo processes a slate of light, sweet crudes from Canada, the Midcontinent, the Bakken region and the United States Gulf Coast. Toledo produces a high percentage of finished products, including gasoline and ULSD, in addition to a range of petrochemicals, including nonene, xylene, tetramer and toluene. The Toledo refinery is located on a 282-acre site near Toledo, Ohio, approximately 60 miles from Detroit. Units at the Toledo refinery include an FCC unit, a hydrocracker, an alkylation unit and a UDEX unit. Crude is delivered to the Toledo refinery through three primary pipelines: Enbridge from the north, Capline from the south and Mid-Valley from the south. Crude is also delivered to a nearby terminal by rail and from local sources by truck to a truck unloading facility within the refinery.

Toledo is connected through pipelines, to a distribution network throughout Ohio, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, Pennsylvania and West Virginia. The finished products are transported on pipelines owned by Sunoco Logistics Partners L.P. and Buckeye Partners.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Ben Levisohn]

  It’s been a very good three months for oil refiners. Western Refining has gained 37% during that period, while Marathon Petroleum has risen 35%, Valero has advanced 38% and Tesoro is up 28%. The price of PBF Energy (PBF) shares has increased 39%. That was helped� by the fact Brent crude, the European benchmark, had gained 2.2% to $116.0 during that period, while the price of WTI crude, the U.S. benchmark fell 5.2%–increasing the difference between the two.

• [By Aimee Duffy]

  I've been following refining outfit PBF Energy (NYSE: PBF  ) pretty closely since its IPO in December. I'll be very honest: I like this company. However, its fourth-quarter earnings were an incomplete picture, given it had spent all of two weeks as a public company, and I've been waiting for its first-quarter results to see how public status is treating PBF, and how it is faring in the market overall. Today I'll look at how things panned out, and whether or not this refiner is all it's cracked up to be. (There will be no more refining puns.)

Top 5 Gas Companies To Own For 2014: Halcon Resources Corp (HK)

Halcon Resources Corporation (Halcon Resources), incorporated on February 5, 2004, is an independent energy company focused on the acquisition, production, exploration and development of onshore liquids-rich oil and natural gas assets in the United States. The Company has oil and natural gas reserves located primarily in Texas, North Dakota, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Montana. On August 1, 2012, the Company acquired GeoResources by merger. On December 6, 2012, the Company completed the acquisition of entities owning approximately 81,000 net acres prospective for the Bakken / Three Forks formations primarily located in Williams, Mountrail, McKenzie and Dunn Counties, North Dakota (the Williston Basin Assets), from Petro-Hunt, L.L.C. and Pillar Energy, LLC (the Petro-Hunt parties). As of December 31, 2012, the Company has working interests in approximately 128,000 net acres prospective for the Bakken / Three Forks formations in North Dakota and Montana.

The Company�� Woodbine / Eagle Ford acreage is prospective for the Woodbine, Eagle Ford and other formations, with targeted depths ranging anywhere from 7,000 feet to 10,400 feet. As of December 31, 2012, The Company has approximately 198,000 net acres leased or under contract primarily in Leon, Madison, Grimes, Brazos, and Polk Counties, Texas. The Company is the operator and has a 100% working interest in more than 12,000 net acres in Wichita and Wilbarger Counties, Texas that it is actively water flooding in shallow Cisco aged Pennsylvania sandstone and limestone reservoirs. As of December 31, 2012, the Company produced 484 million barrels of oil equivalent from approximately 700 active producing wells and approximately 230 active water injection wells.

The Company�� position in the La Copita Field covers 3,720 gross acres and 2,829 net acres in Starr County, Texas. As of December 31, 2012, the Company�� average net daily production was 623 barrels of oil equivalent per day. The Company operates 100% of this production a! nd its working interest ranges from 75% to 100%. The Company has various other oil and natural gas properties with varying working interests located across the United States, including the Austin Chalk Trend and Eagle Ford Shale in Texas, the Fitts-Allen Fields in Central Oklahoma, and various other areas across South Louisiana, Montana, North Dakota, New Mexico, and West Virginia.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Leading and Lagging Sectors
  Thursday morning, the energy sector proved to be a source of strength for the market. Leading the sector was strength from Swift Energy Co (NYSE: SFY) and Halcon Resources (NYSE: HK). Healthcare sector was the leading decliner in the US market today.

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Among holdings in which Tocqueville increased its stake were Molycorp (NYSE: MCP  ) and Halcon Resources (NYSE: HK  ) . Molycorp has been struggling in a tough environment and recently worried investors with a surprisingly large share offering and debt issuance. (Some worry about further capital needs, too, and worry about it running out of money before the market for its rare-earth minerals turns around.) Still, for those who can accept considerable risk and volatility, there's some promise in Molycorp, in part because of its acquisition of Neo Materials Technologies and its potential to become a powerful low-cost producer.

• [By Robert Rapier]

  Q: What is your opinion on Halcon Resources?

  Halcon Resources (NYSE: HK) is an upstream oil and gas producer with operations focused in the Bakken in North Dakota, the Utica in Ohio and Pennsylvania, and in the Eagle Ford in Texas. Over the past two years shares of the company have been on a steady decline, falling 71 percent.
  
  
  
  A big knock on Halcon is that it significantly overpaid for its Utica acreage and that its relatively high level of debt will make it difficult to climb out of the hole they dug for themselves. I believe the share price will turn up this year, but I would wait on the sidelines for now as it still seems to be seeking a bottom. With this much downward momentum and bad news, it would be a really speculative play until it is clear that the company has turned the corner. At present, that isn’t the case.
  

  Q: Could you offer any insight/comment on Swift Energy, which seems to be moving towards oil from natgas?

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Finally, Graham Capital's biggest closed positions included Hess�and calls on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF. Other closed positions of interest include Halcon Resources (NYSE: HK  ) and Pengrowth Energy (NYSE: PGH  ) . Oil and gas company Halcon, operating in the promising Bakken region, as well as Texas' productive Eagle Ford shale region, among others, posted 2012 net daily production 128% higher than year-earlier levels, and proven reserves up 417%. The stock was punished after a disappointing earnings result last month, despite surging revenue. Free cash flow has moved into the red, though.