Friday, July 6th, was not a great day for energy companies. Crude was down $2.77 to $84.55 per barrel. The Henry Hub spot was up $0.03 to $2.94. European and Asian sanctions against Iranian oil are likely going to be new price drivers in the energy market. The sanctions went into effect on July 1st.

At the same time, the euro hit a two year low as a result of the eurozone’s continued difficulty dealing with bailout provisions and restructuring of its economy. On top of that, grim U.S. job growth numbers created a new round of pessimism and concern about the pace of domestic recovery. While the job numbers were disappointing, they were not bad enough to have the Federal Reserve undertake another round of quantitative easing. An extended period of sluggish growth is expected, and energy prices are taking a hit for all the bad news. In the following article, I will examine the impact of these events on oil and gas stocks, with a primary focus on Cabot Oil & Gas (COG).

Several companies have decided to concentrate on natural gas plays, such as Marathon Oil (MRO), EOG Resources (EOG), Ultra Petroleum (UPL), Comstock Oil & Gas (CRK) and Exco Resources (XCO). Likewise, Cabot Oil & Gas has its operations activities concentrated in natural gas, onshore in the United States. Ultra Petroleum, Comstock and Exco Resources also restrict their geographic operations to the U.S. Cabot has 3.033 billion cubic feet of natural gas in proven reserves.To continue reading, click here.