Three Stocks for the Oil Underinvested

We always overreact to takeovers, sending up a whole cohort gigantically as we hastily figure out the values of what the target got and then extrapolating it to the comparable companies.

Occasionally -- very occasionally, I should say -- though, we get a takeover of a property that is so outrageously high that it sets a new benchmark that must be obeyed, particularly when the comparables are almost interchangeable.

That's what we got Monday in the Norsk Hydro (NHY - commentary - Cramer's Take) bid for Spinnaker (SKE - commentary - Cramer's Take). Norsk Hydro, a basically conservative, almost hidebound Norwegian company, paid a stupendous $42.58 in proved reserves per barrel for little Spinnaker. That's just incredible, and, because there are other companies in the stew that Norsk Hydro finds itself in -- that is, being a big oil company that's running out of oil in inhospitable places -- you can bet that we are going to see more Spinnakers in the future.

Which is why it is so dumbfounding to me that the stocks of three oil and gas companies that are widely perceived as Gulf of Mexico plays didn't jump more on the Spinnaker deal: Energy Partners (EPL - commentary - Cramer's Take), Newfield Exploration (NFX - commentary - Cramer's Take) and PetroQuest Energy.

Energy Partners, long a favorite of mine, is a company with a concentrated exposure to the Gulf, with 29 producing fields and five fields under development. At the current $27 price -- down a $1 today -- that company is being valued at $16.63 a barrel. Wait a second, that's nowhere near the $42.58 the Norwegians are paying for Spinnaker.

Newfield's only 28% Gulf; the rest is some solid properties in the mid-continent and the Rockies. It has some gigantic leases in the Gulf, though, and can be picked up at $20.54 a barrel. It, too, is giving up its big gains from Monday.

Finally, there is little PetroQuest, based in Lafayette, La., with major properties in the Gulf Coast basin as well as Texas and Oklahoma. It's going for $23.41 a barrel; not as cheap as the others, but then again, consider it an $8 Powerball lottery ticket.

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James J. Cramer is a director and co-founder of TheStreet.com. He contributes daily market commentary for TheStreet.com's sites and serves as an adviser to the company's CEO. Outside contributing columnists for TheStreet.com and RealMoney.com, including Cramer, may, from time to time, write about stocks in which they have a position. In such cases, appropriate disclosure is made. To see his personal portfolio and find out what trades Cramer will make before he makes them, sign up for ActionAlertsPLUS by clicking here. While he cannot provide personalized investment advice or recommendations, he invites you to send comments on his column by clicking here. Listen to Cramer's RealMoney Radio show on your computer; just click here. Watch Cramer on "Mad Money" at 6 p.m. ET weeknights on CNBC. Click here to order Cramer's latest book, "Real Money: Sane Investing in an Insane World," click here to get his second book, "You Got Screwed!" and click here to order Cramer's autobiography, "Confessions of a Street Addict." Cramer appreciates your feedback and invites you to send him an email by clicking here.