EOG Resources, Valero Will Energize Your Portfolio Says Tortoise Fund Manager

EOG Resources not only survived the past year’s dramatic drop in oil prices, but is now starting to thrive by turning $65 a barrel into the new $90.

EOG Resources not only survived the past year’s dramatic drop in oil prices, but is now starting to thrive by turning $65 a barrel into the new $90, according to Rob Thummell, portfolio manager for the Tortoise Select Opportunity Fund. 'What I mean by that is that they publicly stated that they will grow production by double digits if oil sustains at $65 a barrel,' said Thummell. 'Not many companies can do that.' The way EOG Resources is doing that is through having the top technical team in the business in Thummell’s view. Rig counts at most basins were down or flat last week, but they actually rose by one at the Eagle Ford shale basin where EOG is the largest producer. EOG shares are down slightly over 3% year-to-date. The company pays a 0.8% dividend. Thummell’s fund is up slightly over 7% so far this year, better than 94% of its Morningstar peers in the energy fund sector. One of his top performing picks so far this year has been Marcellus shale natural gas producer EQT Corporation, up over 11% year-to-date. 'EQT also possesses is a great network of infrastructure assets and those assets and its ability to take natural gas out of the Marcellus Basin into other areas of the country is really a nice advantage for EQT that is not reflected in the stock quite yet,' said Thummell. In the energy infrastructure arena, Thummell is bullish on Plains All American Pipeline, down 10% so far in 2015.