XEC - Will Cimarex Energy Be a Turnaround Story?
The oil and gas industry didn't have a great year in 2019, as crude oil prices dropped about 9% and natural gas prices dropped 18% amid a continued increase in supply. While that's good for consumers, it wasn't so positive for oil and gas companies and their investors. Over the past 12 months, the oil and gas production sector has declined about 6%. One of the laggards in the sector has been Cimarex Energy (NYSE: XEC), which was down about 14% in 2019 and is down roughly 8% year to date.
Cimarex, based in Denver, is a shale oil and gas driller with operations in Oklahoma, Texas, and New Mexico. Most of its drilling and exploration activity is in the Permian Basin in Texas and the Anadarko Basin in western Oklahoma. Its production mix is more weighted toward gas, which saw even lower commodity prices than oil last year due to the continued boom in natural gas production in the United States. More supply means lower prices.
Cimarex Energy is company that drills for gas and oil in Texas and Oklahoma. Image source: Getty Images.