Upshot of State of the Union on Oil

This was originally published on RealMoney in Columnist Conversation on Jan. 31 at 3:53 p.m. EST. It's being republished as a bonus for TheStreet.com readers.

So, lots of questions about how to think about the State of the Union address tonight, especially as it relates to energy. Here are some quick thoughts:

1. President Bush will stress energy independence and the need to work harder to supply more of our own energy. That should, in a macro sense, benefit the independent exploration companies like Chesapeake (CHK Quote), XTO Energy (XTO Quote), Devon (DVN Quote), EOG Resources (EOG Quote) and others.

Those names will benefit even more if Bush refers to "resource plays" -- areas such as the Barnett Shale or Fayetteville Shale -- that are "unconventional" in nature. That would also benefit a company like Southwestern (SWN Quote). ...