While the handful of senior oil and gas companies left standing in the Calgary oilpatch hog the limelight, the smart money is being quietly bet on the seasoned blue-eyed sheiks who run junior companies.

Andrew Boland, who scouts the junior markets for Calgary’s big oil and gas firm Peters & Co., is forecasting a prolonged and robust bull run for the juniors.

But it’s already getting crowded in the bull ring and a lot of the easy money has been made. Many junior public companies have recorded astonishing gains since the beginning of the year, and virtually all of them boast one common denominator – a wily chief executive with a sparkling track record in the industry.

Investors have been riding the coattails of the ’patch’s grizzled veterans – men with crude coursing through their veins and hundred-dollar bills for toothpicks.

Some of these heavy hitters of the ’patch have turned nurturing companies from the ground up into a fine art, while others have recently returned to the junior ranks, craving another piece of the action after having their senior companies swallowed up in the flurry of takeovers by U.S. companies in the past couple of years.

An inspection of the hot junior plays turns up a who’s who of oil and gas CEOs.

The hottest oil and gas company in Canada is Cequel Energy (CQL-TSX), whose stock price is up 220 per cent year to date, with seasoned veteran CEO Don Archibald batting cleanup.

Since respected oilman Steve Savidant, the CEO of Canadian Hunter until it was acquired by Burlington Resources for $3.3 billion last year, hooked up with Canadian 88 Energy (EEE-TSX), the company has garnered attention that has sent the share price soaring 25 per cent in two weeks.

Oilpatch maverick Greg Noval, the former CEO of Canadian 88, is also on a roll at Canadian Superior Energy (SNG-TSX) with an 85-per-cent pop year to date.

Among other savvy CEOs whose companies have been embraced in recent months by shrewd investors who scout for name players are Laurie Sibbald (Gauntlet Energy, GAU-TSX, up 100 per cent year to date), Richard Anderson (First Calgary Resources, FCP-TSX, up 95 per cent), John Wright (Petrobank Energy, PBG-TSX, up 75 per cent), Dale Schwed (Baytex Energy, BTE-TSX, up 60 per cent), John Rooney (Equatorial Energy, OZ-TSX, up 45 per cent), Craig Stewart (Meota Resources, MRZ-TSX, up 45 per cent) and Harold Pedersen (KeyWest Energy, KWE-TSX, up 35 per cent).

Boland covets an unheralded penny stock play, TriQuest Energy (TRI-TSX Venture), even though he doesn’t officially cover the stock.

TriQuest, which has already doubled since Jan. 1, is run by 25-year oil and gas veteran Gordon Hoy and also has one of Calgary’s most admired business leaders, Flames’ part-owner Harley Hotchkiss, on its board of directors.

Boland anticipates a junior bull market to rage on for two to four years.

“There’s a lot of capital being raised for that part of the market,” says Boland.

“I think with companies being well capitalized (he estimates that $1 billion in new capital has already been raised to fuel the rising junior market), having commodity prices that are well above historical averages and experienced management teams means we’re going to have a pretty interesting and hopefully powerful cycle.”

But Boland cautions investors against being caught up in the greed that was so evident during the tech bull run.

“Timing is everything in a bull run,” he says. “Know when to sell. When the commodity prices seem too good to be true, it’s time to sell the company, even if you’re not ready. The truth is that when you ride the lows and the highs of the cycle, you get a lot more lift.”

For Boland’s top picks, see Pro’s 3 Stars.

* STREET TALK: Generally, it’s wise to steer clear of Canadian oil and gas companies that aren’t based in Alberta or run by executives who are in the loop. One has to dig deep to find publicly traded Canadian oil and gas companies that haven’t appreciated this year, but most of those are based in Vancouver.

The biggest bust has been Vancouver-based Petrolex Energy (PXV-TSX), a two-center that is 95 per cent off its 12-month high and under review by the TSX over listing requirements.

It doesn’t end there.

The biggest bust on the TSX Venture is Vancouver-based Arlington Resources (YRL), which is 89 per cent off its 12-month high.

But what would you expect from a city that thinks a roughneck is a soccer hooligan?

HOT ALBERTA STOCK: Newmex Minerals



NMM-TSX Venture $1.20 Up 41 cents (+51.9%) on 1,500 shares (for week ending June 7). Following the comatose Calgary precious-metals scene in recent years has been about as exciting as a reunion of dead-broke Bre-X shareholders, but here's a Calgary-based exploration company that just popped up on the radar screen. With mining penny stocks getting a new lease on life on the back of surging gold prices, all Newmex had to do was announce it was planning to sell or obtain joint venture partners for its non-producing properties in B.C. and New Mexico to get a big bounce that took the stock to its highest level in two years.



COLD ALBERTA STOCK: Brocker Technology Group

BKI-TSX $1.10 Down 30 cents (-21.4%) on 2,700 shares (for week ending June 7). Aside from the occasional dead-cat bounce, skittish tech players continue to pound the techs and Brocker, one of the high fliers and high-volume stocks during the tech boom, continues its descent on low volume. The Edmonton-based IT specialist recently announced a software contract in Fiji, but shareholders haven't exactly been cartwheeling over the news.