Oil & Gas Drilling & Exploration Stocks

Oil & gas drilling & exploration stocks are part of basic materials stock sector. These drilling and exploration companies search for potential underground or underwater crude oil or natural gas fields, and drill and operate wells. The companies also may bring the crude oil or natural gas to the surface (this process is known as "upstream" operations).

Many of these companies are structured as trusts, limited partnerships, or limited liability corporations. The stocks also may pay higher-than-average dividend yields.

Oil & Gas Drilling & Exploration Companies List

The largest oil & gas drilling & exploration companies include CNOOC Ltd, Petrobras, and Cenovus Energy Inc. These companies may provide services include directional drilling, well drilling and reconditioning of oil and gas field wells.

Oil & gas drilling & exploration companies are:

• CNOOC Ltd. (CEO)
• Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (PBR)
• Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (PBR-A)
• Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE)
• Concho Resources, Inc. (CXO)
• Antero Resources Corporation (AR)
• Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (HP)
• Whiting Petroleum Corp. (WLL)
• Transocean Ltd. (RIG)
• Ensco plc (ESV)
• SeaDrill Limited (SDRL)
• Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR)
• Vermilion Energy Inc. (VET)
• Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc. (DO)
• Noble Corporation plc (NE)
• Memorial Resource Development Corp. (MRD)
• Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (PTEN)
• Enerplus Corporation (ERF)
• Rowan Companies plc (RDC)
• RSP Permian, Inc. (RSPP)
• Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (ATW)
• Pengrowth Energy Corporation (PGH)
• Unit Corporation (UNT)
• Vanguard Natural Resources, LLC (VNR)
• Breitburn Energy Partners L.P. (BBEP)
• Seadrill Partners LLC (SDLP)
• Penn West Petroleum Ltd. (PWE)
• Advantage Oil & Gas Ltd Ordina (AAV)
• Transocean Partners LLC (RIGP)
• Ocean Rig UDW Inc. (ORIG)
• Pacific Drilling S.A. (PACD)
• SandRidge Energy, Inc. (SD)
• Halcon Resources Corporation (HK)
• EV Energy Partners LP (EVEP)
• Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NOG)
• Magnum Hunter Resources Corp. (MHR)
• Bill Barrett Corp. (BBG)
• W&T Offshore Inc. (WTI)
• Pioneer Energy Services Corp. (PES)
• North Atlantic Drilling Limited (NADL)
• Ring Energy, Inc. (REI)
• GeoPark Limited (GPRK)
• Rex Energy Corporation (REXX)
• Hugoton Royalty Trust (HGT)
• TransAtlantic Petroleum Ltd. (TAT)
• Independence Contract Drilling, Inc. (ICD)
• Hercules Offshore, Inc. (HERO)
• Paragon Offshore plc (PGN)
• Cross Timbers Royalty Trust (CRT)
• Vantage Drilling Company (VTG)
• ECA Marcellus Trust I (ECT)
• PostRock Energy Corporation (PSTR)
• ZaZa Energy Corporation (ZAZA)
• Samson Oil & Gas Limited (SSN)
• Torchlight Energy Resources, Inc. (TRCH)

Top Performing oil & gas drilling & exploration 2015

The following is the year-to-date return of these stocks in 2015. Some of these stocks are listed in New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), NASDAQ, etc. They may be part of international stocks listed in US stock exchange.

Top performing oil & gas drilling & exploration stocks 2015 are:

1. Northern Oil and Gas, Inc. (NOG) 53.10%
2. PostRock Energy Corporation (PSTR) 43.89%
3. Independence Contract Drilling, Inc. (ICD) 34.48%
4. ECA Marcellus Trust I (ECT) 26.91%
5. Enerplus Corporation (ERF) 22.93%
6. Patterson-UTI Energy Inc. (PTEN) 21.33%
7. Concho Resources, Inc. (CXO) 21.21%
8. CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) 17.21%
9. Advantage Oil & Gas Ltd Ordina (AAV) 17.12%
10. Cross Timbers Royalty Trust (CRT) 15.68%
11. Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) 14.55%
12. RSP Permian, Inc. (RSPP) 11.18%
13. Atwood Oceanics, Inc. (ATW) 10.76%
14. Helmerich & Payne, Inc. (HP) 9.53%
15. Pengrowth Energy Corporation (PGH) 8.55%
16. Pioneer Energy Services Corp. (PES) 8.48%
17. Ring Energy, Inc. (REI) 7.14%
18. Whiting Petroleum Corp. (WLL) 6.85%
19. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (PBR) 6.16%
20. SandRidge Energy, Inc. (SD) 5.49%
21. TransAtlantic Petroleum Ltd. (TAT) 5.19%
22. Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. – Petrobras (PBR-A) 1.85%
23. Noble Corporation plc (NE) 0.06%
24. Vanguard Natural Resources, LLC (VNR) -0.27%

Oil & Gas Drilling & Exploration Stocks Table

No.	Company	Ticker	Country	Market Cap	Price
1	CNOOC Ltd.	CEO	Hong Kong	70.35B	158.75
2	Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras	PBR	Brazil	50.64B	7.75
3	Petroleo Brasileiro S.A. - Petrobras	PBR-A	Brazil	50.33B	7.72
4	Cenovus Energy Inc.	CVE	Canada	14.71B	17.61
5	Concho Resources, Inc.	CXO	USA	14.40B	120.91
6	Antero Resources Corporation	AR	USA	10.28B	37.35
7	Helmerich & Payne, Inc.	HP	USA	7.87B	73.08
8	Whiting Petroleum Corp.	WLL	USA	7.21B	35.26
9	Transocean Ltd.	RIG	Switzerland	5.99B	16.57
10	Ensco plc	ESV	United Kingdom	5.54B	23.66
11	SeaDrill Limited	SDRL	Bermuda	5.14B	10.77
12	Nabors Industries Ltd.	NBR	Bermuda	4.87B	14.8
13	Vermilion Energy Inc.	VET	Canada	4.72B	43.83
14	Diamond Offshore Drilling, Inc.	DO	USA	4.06B	29.61
15	Noble Corporation plc	NE	United Kingdom	3.93B	16.23
16	Memorial Resource Development Corp.	MRD	USA	3.38B	17.61
17	Patterson-UTI Energy Inc.	PTEN	USA	2.93B	20.02
18	Enerplus Corporation	ERF	Canada	2.40B	11.58
19	Rowan Companies plc	RDC	USA	2.39B	19.15
20	RSP Permian, Inc.	RSPP	USA	2.33B	27.95
21	Atwood Oceanics, Inc.	ATW	USA	1.99B	30.87
22	Pengrowth Energy Corporation	PGH	Canada	1.77B	3.3
23	Unit Corporation	UNT	USA	1.48B	29.31
24	Vanguard Natural Resources, LLC	VNR	USA	1.22B	14.6
25	Breitburn Energy Partners L.P.	BBEP	USA	1.18B	5.6
26	Seadrill Partners LLC	SDLP	United Kingdom	1.18B	12.83
27	Penn West Petroleum Ltd.	PWE	Canada	1.02B	2
28	Advantage Oil & Gas Ltd Ordina	AAV	Canada	960.71M	5.61
29	Transocean Partners LLC	RIGP	United Kingdom	953.17M	13.82
30	Ocean Rig UDW Inc.	ORIG	Cyprus	940.80M	7.11
31	Pacific Drilling S.A.	PACD	Luxembourg	932.17M	4.32
32	SandRidge Energy, Inc.	SD	USA	928.99M	1.92
33	Halcon Resources Corporation	HK	USA	729.03M	1.69
34	EV Energy Partners LP	EVEP	USA	692.61M	14.19
35	Northern Oil and Gas, Inc.	NOG	USA	528.17M	8.65
36	Magnum Hunter Resources Corp.	MHR	USA	499.62M	2.48
37	Bill Barrett Corp.	BBG	USA	484.79M	9.69
38	W&T Offshore Inc.	WTI	USA	448.63M	5.91
39	Pioneer Energy Services Corp.	PES	USA	383.86M	6.01
40	North Atlantic Drilling Limited	NADL	Bermuda	323.13M	1.34
41	Ring Energy, Inc.	REI	USA	289.58M	11.25
42	GeoPark Limited	GPRK	Chile	268.87M	4.6
43	Rex Energy Corporation	REXX	USA	238.77M	4.32
44	Hugoton Royalty Trust	HGT	USA	231.60M	5.79
45	TransAtlantic Petroleum Ltd.	TAT	USA	212.57M	5.67
46	Independence Contract Drilling, Inc.	ICD	USA	172.90M	7.02
47	Hercules Offshore, Inc.	HERO	USA	132.80M	0.81
48	Paragon Offshore plc	PGN	USA	131.70M	1.54
49	Cross Timbers Royalty Trust	CRT	USA	117.72M	19.62
50	Vantage Drilling Company	VTG	USA	103.40M	0.33
51	ECA Marcellus Trust I	ECT	USA	67.27M	3.82
52	PostRock Energy Corporation	PSTR	USA	32.94M	5.18
53	ZaZa Energy Corporation	ZAZA	USA	20.69M	1.56
54	Samson Oil & Gas Limited	SSN	Australia	20.04M	1.54
55	Torchlight Energy Resources, Inc.	TRCH	USA	7.82M	0.34