How to play the game.

Oil companies seem to be getting more comfortable with the fact that oil prices are going to stay on the higher side. So we may see more deals as they gobble each other up.

Who are the logical candidates at this point? The small guys and especially the guys in the middle that have large reserves or leases.

Articles on this here and here.

I think a stock I own, CHK, might also be a possibility. [Note: I was very happy to see the CEO of CHK buying stock above where I bought it. I can't remember the last time that happened to me.]

There are lots of other guys in the middle, XTO, XEC, PXD, NFX, APA, MUR, the list just goes on and on. You'll have to do some due diligence and see if you want to play.

A firm named "Ehrenkrantz King Nussbaum, Inc.", which I have no knowledge of, is quoted in Barron's as suggesting these firms might be tempting targets:

Patterson-UTI, Key Energy, Occidental Petroleum, Noble Energy, Anadarko, Vintage Petroleum, Ultra Petroleum, Plains Exploration and Production, Chesapeake Energy, Kerr-McGee, and Petroleum Geo Services.

Good luck.