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CNBC EXPLAINS

Oil Giant Buy/Hold Ratings: Energy Analyst

Published: Tuesday, 22 Jun 2010 | 12:02 PM ET

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By: JeeYeon Park
CNBC.com Writer

The corporate casualties of the oil spill continue to mount as Moody's Investors Service downgraded Anadarko's rating to "junk" status. Philip Weiss, senior energy analyst at Argus Research Company, discussed his insights.

Anadarko, which holds 25 percent of the leaking Gulf of Mexico oil well, is disputing its share of the spill costs with BP [BP Loading... () ].

“This adds a lot of uncertainty to the situation when you try to evaluate stocks like this, because we don’t know how this is going to work out," Weiss told CNBC.

"So it’s a much higher threshold for me to put a buy rating on a stock like this,” he added.

Weiss’ firm has a “hold” rating on Anadarko [APC Loading... () ] and lowered the 2011 earnings forecast for the oil company to $2.90 a share from $3 a share.

“Anadarko feels pretty confident that the negligence claim against BP can hold; and if that’s the case under the operating agreement they wouldn’t be liable, but past experiences show that negligence can be difficult to prove,” he said.

Weiss also said the US government's moratorium on deep water drilling is expected to last for at least six months.

Argus' Stock Ratings:

- "Hold" ratings on Halliburton [HAL Loading... () ], BP and Transocean [RIG Loading... () ];