Patina picked up.

In an earlier post, I listed the possible takeover targets among the Rockies oil / gas players. The first one in the list, Patina Oil and Gas (POG) got acquired today by Noble Energy for a 15% premium.

I did not own any shares of POG since the stock was priced for perfection and I was waiting for a pullback.

The others mentioned in that list still remain attractive targets, but most have a takeover premium already priced in.

The ones I am watching closely are :

• Transmontaigne (TMG)
  
• Credo Petroleum (CRED)
  
• Whiting Petroleum (WLL)
  
• Chesapeake Energy (CHK)
  
• Petroleum Development (PETD)
  
• Vintage Petroleum (VPI)

I own a few of TMG and CHK, but will wait for further weakness to add more. Credo does look attractive at the current price, but I have to learn a bit more about it.

The Rockies sector saw heavy consolidation activity earlier this year and election time put a temporary halt to it. Now that Bush is back in power, and (unfortunately) is likely to open up more areas to exploration, there is bound to be a free for all in the coming weeks.

With the purchase of Patina, the only quality takeover target left is Anadarko Petrolem (APC), but it is not cheap either.