This year’s Vancouver Resource Investment Conference (VRIC) had plenty of industry experts and CEOs in different panels and presentations. On Sunday, the Investing News Network attended the energy panel moderated by Frank Holmes, CEO and chief investment officer of U.S. Global Investors.
The panel featured Keith Schaeffer, Editor and Publisher of the Oil and Gas Investments Bulletin, Marin Katusa, Katusa Research, and Darrell Bishop, Head of Energy Research, Haywood Securities.
The topics covered in the 30-minute panel were diverse, but Holmes started off by asking the panelists how they choose in which project to invest. Schaeffer said that he starts his research by looking at who is the leader and who is the junior in that space. He then looks for the company with the least amount of shares. “Expensive stocks stay expensive, but very few cheap stocks stay cheap,” he added.

Katusa said he looks for the best geologist in the place and also asks for an independent review of the findings. For Katusa, the team behind the project is very important, “I ask, does this company have a team that can get this project through? I want to see ownership,” he added.
Bishop agreed with Katusa, and said that he even looks at the management team before looking at the project. “The first question we ask is ‘tell me about yourself’, we want to see if there is a track of success, then we move to the assets,” he said and added that the CEO needs the ability to communicate well with the team and investors as they are the first point of contact.
On a different note, panelists discussed the outlook for oil and gas and their favorite stocks for 2017. Schaeffer said that now that the oil price is up, Canada is the place to be in 2017. He also said that gas stocks did very well because they could lower their operating costs. His stock picks include Resolute Energy (NYSE:REN), Cardinal Energy (TSX:CJ) and Select Sands (TSXV:SNS).
Katusa also agreed that Canada has super liquid rich areas and is positive about the country. His favorite stocks include Petronova Energy (TSXV:PNA) and Blackbird Energy (TSX:BBI).
Lastly, Bishop said that they also like Canada, in particular the Montney area, with sweet spots including Dawson Creek and Grand Prairie. Bishop sees prices ranging $50 to $60 WTI and is positive about Canada’s potential. His top stocks are Blackbird Energy (TSX:BBI) and Parex Resources (TSX:PXT).
Stay tuned for more coverage of VRIC, and in the meantime check out the Investing News Network’s Sunday and Monday overviews of the event.
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Securities Disclosure: I, Priscila Barrera, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.