5 Best American Oil Stocks to Buy Now

3. ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 74

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) is one of the world’s largest independent E&P companies based on oil and natural gas production and proved reserves.

It was reported on June 16 that ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) has signed a contract with the Syrian Petroleum Company to revive the country’s gas production, making it the first American energy major to sign a deal with the new Syrian government. Along with Novaterra Energy, ConocoPhillips will develop existing gas fields and explore ⁠for new reserves in the country.

According to estimates by Wood Mackenzie earlier this year, Syria holds discovered oil and gas resources of at least 1.3 billion barrels of oil equivalent, with large areas of the country still underexplored. Moreover, its offshore sector has never been tapped, with no exploration wells drilled to date.

The 14-year civil war has ravaged Syria’s energy infrastructure and the country’s domestic natural gas production is estimated to have declined to 3 billion cubic metres ​in 2023 from 8.7 bcm in 2011. The Syrian government expected the deal to boost the country’s gas output by 4 to 5 million cubic metres per day ​within a year.

Ryan Lance, Chairman and ​CEO of ConocoPhillips, commented:

“We were in the country a number of decades ago, and this represents the re-entry of our company back into Syria in partnership with NovaTerra. We hope to grow ​the gas production in the country, and I hope that that expands beyond that to something ‌even ⁠more significant for our company and more significant for the country of Syria.”