WINNING: Cramer says ConocoPhillips just proved low oil prices are here to stay.
Jim Cramer saw ConocoPhillips’ sale of a portion of its oil sands to Canadian producer Cenovus as a sign that the oil glut will keep prices low for a while.
“In one fell swoop ConocoPhillips confirmed a lot of what’s become the conventional wisdom in the oil patch: the price of crude’s not going to roar higher any time soon, even as it rallied nicely again today, climbing back over $50,” the “Mad Money” host said.
The purchase, which left ConocoPhillips with $10.6 billion in cash and $2.7 billion in stock, sent its shares soaring. Cramer said the company sold the sands because at today’s prices, extracting oil from tar sands is simply not worth the cost.
“It’s much better to take money from Cenovus, pay down debt, buy back stock and potentially increase the dividend than to keep pouring money into the dirtiest and most nasty form of oil around, the tar sands,” Cramer said.
Tar sands will remain uneconomical — right up until they stop.