U.S. oil production has grown to a record-high this year, driven chiefly by the Permian Basin in southeast New Mexico and West Texas. The growth was caused by increasing pipeline development and other transportation methods in the Permian Basin region, according to a report from the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA).
The EIA report explained that the Permian region has been extremely efficient in transport and utilization, allowing the region to burgeon with activity.
“Despite pipeline capacity constraints, the Permian region’s month-over-month growth averaged nearly 100,000 b/d for almost all of 2018,” read the report. “Industry efficiencies in pipeline utilization and increased trucking and rail transport in the region have allowed crude oil production to continue to grow.”
For investors looking at capitalizing on the Permian Basin region growth, 3 stocks that concentrate on drilling in that area are: Diamondback Energy (FANG) and renewable energy companies NextEra Energy Partners (NEP) and Brookfield Renewable Partners (BEP).
In 2019, Diamondback Energy expects to increase its production 26%, with high-margin oil expanding at an even faster 30%. Moreover, the company can deliver this fast-paced growth while generating excess cash at current oil prices.
NextEra Energy Partners has rewarded investors with a total return of 84% over the last 3 years, beating the S&P500 by over 30%. NextEra pays a 4% distribution yield, but it has solid growth potential backing up that income stream.
Finally, Brookfield Renewable shares have been indomitable, gaining twice as much as the S&P 500, or nearly 44% so far including dividends.
For investors looking to capitalize on the Permian Basin growth, 2 ETF contain some of the key drilling companies mentioned above.
The First Trust NASDAQ Clean Edge Green Energy Index Fund (QCLN) is an ETF that contains both BEP and NEP. The First Trust NASDAQ® Clean Edge® Green Energy Index Fund is an exchange-traded index fund. The objective of the Fund is to seek investment results that correspond generally to the price and yield (before the Fund’s fees and expenses) of an equity index called the NASDAQ® Clean Edge® Green Energy IndexSM.
The index is a modified market capitalization weighted index designed to track the performance of clean energy companies that are publicly traded in the United States and includes companies engaged in manufacturing, development, distribution and installation of emerging clean-energy technologies including, but not limited to, solar photovoltaics, biofuels and advanced batteries. The index is reconstituted twice a year in March and September and rebalanced quarterly.
The Energy Select Sector SPDR (XLE) contains Diamondback Energy. XLE seeks to provide investment results that, before expenses, correspond generally to the price and yield performance of publicly traded equity securities of companies in the Energy Select Sector Index. In seeking to track the performance of the index, the fund employs a replication strategy. It generally invests substantially all, but at least 95%, of its total assets in the securities comprising the index. The index includes securities of companies from the following industries: oil, gas and consumable fuels; and energy equipment and services. The fund is non-diversified.
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