Top-Rated Oil and Gas Stocks

OK, "Big Oil" may not be ruining your life, but that doesn't make the pain at the pump any less acute. And with the national average for regular gasoline above $4 a gallon, and a barrel of crude oil perched above $130, it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that oil and gas companies stand to profit in this environment.

With that in mind, we'll use the aggregate intelligence of the 105,000-plus investors participating in Motley Fool CAPS to find oil and gas stocks that the community likes -- those with four- and five-star ratings. The community's approval could be a sign that further research is in order.

Here are five such stocks:

Company	Primary Industry	% CAPS All-Star Bulls	CAPS Rating (out of 5)	CAPS Research
Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK)	Exploration	99.2%	*****	CHK
Noble (NYSE: NE)	Drilling	99.6%	*****	NE
Petrobras (NYSE: PBR)	Integrated Oil & Gas	98.9%	*****	PBR
Transocean (NYSE: RIG)	Drilling	98.5%	*****	RIG
Valero (NYSE: VLO)	Refining & Marketing	97.8%	*****	VLO

Source: Motley Fool CAPS, as of June 9, 2008.

Copyright © 2008 Universal Press Syndicate.