Valero Energy Corporation (VLO), Chesapeake Energy Corporation (CHK): This Gas and Oil ETF Can Pump Up Your Portfolio

Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK) gained 35% over the past year. Long reviled (and rightly so) by many due to questionable and regrettable management moves, it has been selling assets in order to pay down its significant debt — but the prices it’s getting for these assets have not been as high as hoped. It’s not a lost cause, though, as the company’s major presence in the Utica shale field, among other places, is promising.

Other companies didn’t do as well last year, but could see their fortunes change in the coming years. Exploration and production specialist Whiting Petroleum Corp (NYSE:WLL) shed 4%. It’s a major operator in the productive Bakken region, and its first-quarter earnings report featured record production, with double-digit growth expected in 2013. Some have been disappointed with its hedging strategy, though. Bulls like its well positioned and sizable asset portfolio, and the company has seemed undervalued as well.

The big picture
Demand for gas and oil isn’t going away anytime soon. A well-chosen gas and oil ETF can instantly plunk you in the industry — and make investing in and profiting from it that much easier.

The article This Gas and Oil ETF Can Pump Up Your Portfolio originally appeared on Fool.com and is written by Selena Maranjian.

Longtime Fool contributor Selena Maranjian, whom you can follow on Twitter, has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool owns shares of CST Brands and has the following options on Chesapeake Energy: long Jan. 2014 $20 calls, long Jan. 2014 $30 calls, and short Jan. 2014 $15 puts.

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