Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Understanding A Good Oil Investment

By Terry Stanfield

Investing in the exploration of oil can be one of the most profitable ventures of a lifetime. It can also turn out a dry well. There is always a risk when it comes to any type of investment. But investing in oil exploration has tax benefits that are not offered to other types of investments and the potential for higher returns than stocks or real estate investing. Furthermore, you can often get a steady cash flow from your investment if the venture is successful. Here are some tips on how to determine a good oil investment:

Invest in domestic oil exploration

The government is very much interested in domestic oil and therefore gives tax breaks to those who invest in the search for domestic oil. When you invest in domestic oil exploration, you are privy to the tax benefits and can even write off most of a bad investment if you run into a dry well. Investing in domestic oil exploration not only yields you tax benefits, but gives you the opportunity of investing close to home. You can have some idea where the drilling is taking place and keep in touch with the company doing the drilling.

Invest in a company that is doing the drilling

Instead of buying shares from someone who owns part of a well and is selling it to you, you can invest directly with the oil drilling company that has a proven record of successful drilling and has given previous investors a return on their investments. Sure, you can always wind up with a loser, such as a dry well, but even that enables you to write off your loss on your income taxes. Your chances of being cheated are great when you buy shares from someone who has shares that they brought from someone else. Each degree of separation between you and the company doing the drilling puts you at a greater risk for being cheated. When you invest in a company, you can actually learn something about them and where they are drilling.

Find out the location as well as why they are drilling there

A legitimate company will tell you where the well is located and why they think they can hit oil in this spot. You can ascertain this information by discussing the investment with the company representative and increase your chances of gaining huge profits on your investment. There are many areas of land under which there is oil as well as natural gas in the United States. The company should be able to tell you why they are drilling in a certain location and why they expect to find oil, based upon research.

A good oil investment has the potential to earn you a very high yield return for your money as well as the opportunity for steady cash flow that can go on for years. It is your job, as an investor, to find the best chances to make your cash investment net a profit for you by following these simple tips. - 16003

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