"Buy them on the dip, because it will be tougher from here on out," said Pavel Molchanov, senior vice president and energy analyst at Raymond James. The sector may be lower now but it outperformed in 2009, 2010, and the first half of this year, he added.
His sector picks are Chevron , BP, Hess and Occidental Petroleum .
Also, don't forget the alternative-fuel stocks, he said, because "the higher oil prices go, the better it is for [these companies'] economics." He likes Amyris , Solazyme and Clean Energy Fuels .
In the same interview, Philip Weiss, senior energy analyst at Argus Research, said demand, particularly in developing nations, "is going up, and it’s getting harder and harder to meet that demand. So I think this pullback in prices is an opportunity to buy."
His sector picks are ConocoPhillips , Noble Corp. , Halliburton and Hess.
Weiss thinks WTI oil pricesin the second half of the year won't go much higher than they are now and will average $90 to $95 a barrel. Molchanov sees WTI averaging $95 for the second half and $105 in 2012.
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Disclosures:
Disclosure information was not available for Pavel Molchanov, Philip Weiss or their companies.