Wunderlich Downgrades Oil Players, Sees 500 Rigs Idling Soon

Wunderlich analysts Irene Haas and Jason Wangler downgraded and cut price targets on numerous oil companies Tuesday amid a bearish outlook.

“While the impact of WTI oil moving from basically $100/bbl to $60/bbl in just a few months hasn't been felt just yet, rest assured the pain is coming - and coming soon. What is even more scary about this downturn than the 2008/2009 difficulty is that this time it looks as if there is no basin or commodity to shift activity into,” according to the analyst note.

Hass and Wangler commented, “our friends who run private U.S. oil and gas companies are aggressively cutting rig counts. This group of producers has operations in these plays: Williston, Niobrara, Eagle Ford, Permian, Utica, and Marcellus. We found the chats very insightful in helping us map a way out of this downturn. Some private producers believe that there will be more than 500 rigs idling in the next 60 days. If this is true, we are talking about 26 percent of the rigs being off the market very soon; this is drastic.”

The companies are grouped below according to their current rating along with each company’s price target cut.

Downgraded to Sell:

Basic Energy Services, Inc (NYSE: BAS) - From $17 to $4
Key Energy Services, Inc. (NYSE: KEG) - From $3 to $0.00
Emerald Oil Inc (NYSE: EOX) - From $3 to $0.50
SandRidge Energy Inc. (NYSE: SD) - From $5 to $1

Downgraded to Hold:

Resolute Energy Corp (NYSE: REN) - From $5 to $2
Northern Oil & Gas, Inc. (NYSE: NOG) - From $16 to $5
Oasis Petroleum Inc. (NYSE: OAS) - From $47 to $13
Approach Resources Inc. (NASDAQ: AREX) - From $30 to $5
American Eagle Energy Corp (NYSE: AMZG) - From $4 to $1
Pioneer Energy Services Corp (NYSE: PES) - From $15 to $4