Over the past ten years, oil prices have captivated the attention of nearly every American. This is not surprising as the price for a barrel of oil has risen from less than $15 to more than $150 in just the past decade, generating massive profits for oil and gas companies, as well as those who invested with them. As many would have predicted, the high cost of energy was unsustainable for the current worldwide recession, and since summer of last year, oil prices have fallen as much as 76%.

This extreme drop in the price within just a few months time shocked oil and gas companies who were extremely happy with the seemingly never ending increase of profits. Now with oil prices hovering around the $40 per barrel mark, many of these companies are cutting production and investment to reduce the available supply of energy, subsequently increasing the cost of oil as the demand/supply ratio rebalances in their favor.

It won’t take long for oil prices to rebound as OPEC, supplier of more than a third of the world’s oil, has already cut its production per day by millions of barrels. In March, OPEC will be discussing even more production cuts to shore up prices. Additionally, other countries have declared they are ready to significantly cut their oil production as well.

It is a known fact that stocks typically go up before market conditions improve and this applies to the oil industry as well. One of the largest gainers this week is Bald Eagle Energy, Inc. (OTCBB: BEEI), an oil and gas exploration company focused on Alaska’s vast energy resources. Since the close of last week, the stock has gone up as high as 84.4%. Volume has also improved substantially, increasing from total volume of 142,300 last week to more than 2.6 million traded shares.

Other oil stocks already experiencing the benefits of an upturn in oil prices include: Canadian Natural Resources Limited (NYSE: CNQ) up 7.3% this week, Dorchester Minerals LP (NASDAQ: DMLP) up 8.6%, Houston American Energy Corp. (NASDAQ: HUSA) up 9.4%, and NEXEN Inc. (NYSE: NXY) up 11.6%. Intelligent investors are currently accumulating the best oil stocks while they are trading at bargain prices and stand to reap substantial profits once oil prices recover.

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