3 Oil Stocks to Buy at the Bottom of the Cycle

While crude oil bottomed out early last year below $30 a barrel and is now in the low $50s, the market isn't in recovery mode just yet. As a result, investors still have the chance to buy oil stocks at rock-bottom prices in hopes of scoring big gains when the cycle finally turns higher.

While that rising tide should lift the entire industry, we think ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), Marathon Oil (NYSE: MRO), and Encana (NYSE: ECA) offer some of the most compelling opportunities for upside. That's because all three can thrive at current prices, which makes them all the more likely to produce top-tier returns when crude turns higher. 

Tyler Crowe (ExxonMobil): Wall Street looks like it is losing patience with oil and gas producers as of late. When oil prices hit their low in January 2016 and started to recover from there, it would appear that many people thought the recovery would follow the path of most other recoveries and lead to steadily rising oil prices. That hasn't been the case this time because the cost of shale drilling in North America has declined so much. With the breakeven for most shale wells in the $50-a-barrel range and the ability to get a shale well producing in a matter of a few weeks, it has kept oil prices from rising steadily. 

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Source: Fool.com