Four Slick Oil Stocks (USO, DRQ, ATW, COP, CVX)

* How To Make Your First $1 Million
*Not a Routine Drill*The offshore drilling equipment manufacturer
*Dril-Quip* (NYSE: DRQ) continued to be one of the best plays in the
sector in 2010. Shares of DRQ have surged nearly 200% over the past
five years. Dril-Quip's stock price currently sits just below its
52-week high and is in a good position to surpass this level in 2011.

Through the first three quarters of 2010, Dril-Quip posted fairly
consistent earnings ranging between .68 and .71. Analysts expect
this trend to continue in 2011 and many investors view DRQ as one of
the best plays on the deep water drilling market.

The mid cap offshore driller *Atwood Oceanics* (NYSE:ATW) experienced
quite the reversal in the last half of 2010 as well, following a
steep drop off earlier in the year. The company has watched its stock
price surge 36.7% over the past six months.

*Big Oil*In addition to favorable oil prices and rising global demand
in 2010, big oil companies enhanced profitability by re-allocating
resources. *Conoco Phillips *(NYSE:COP), which more than doubled its
earnings from 2009's third quarter in 2010's Q3, also benefited from
asset sales. Conoco Phillips' goal was to drive capital expenditure
down in 2010 to $11 billion from $12.5 billion in 2009 and planned to
shed $10 billion in assets to assist this move. The company had
already earned $6.26 per share by the end of its third quarter, more
than 2009's EPS of $2.97 for the entire year. (For more, see _Playing
The Oil Rally With Funds._)

*Chevron's* (NYSE:CVX) earnings were also robust in 2010, though not
quite on par with Conoco Phillips. Chevron had a terrible year in
2009, so is still fighting to return to its 2008 levels of
profitability. Chevron, like most of the majors, continued to explore,
as it has a large part of a planned natural gas project for Indonesia.

*The Bottom Line*The price of crude has since made a respectable
comeback in recent months and many oil companies have also seen the
same in their stock prices. These four companies were among the most
interesting oil stocks in 2010, and their shareholders hope that the
momentum will be sustainable through 2011 and beyond. (To learn
about what drives oil prices, read _What economic indicators are
especially important to oil traders?_)

Source: Investopedia.Com