Recently Anadarko (APC) has agreed to buy BP's 93% interest in the Wattenberg Plant, located in the northeastern part of Colorado, for about $575 million. Anadarko already owns the remaining interest in the plant.

Anadarko is the largest producer of natural gas in the Wattenberg field and the deal will provide Anadarko with 100% ownership of the plant. The company relies heavily on natural gas, which we estimate accounts for nearly 40% of its stock value. It vies for business with established oil and gas producers like Exxon Mobil, (XOM) ConocoPhillips (COP), Chevron (CVX), BP (BP) and Duke (DUK).

Japan has closed 11 nuclear plants. They will need a different energy source to replace their nuclear losses. Natural gas is one such energy source. Natural gas must be liquefied for transport. Much of the liquefied natural gas (LNG) supply could come from Europe.

One company, Golar (GLNG), has a fleet of transport ships that can carry LNG. Their ships have the capacity to dock at a port and transfer their LNG supply to an onshore receiving unit. Their ships have special units that can do the transfer operation. The fleet is capable of carrying 1.7 cubic meters of LNG.

Anadarko Petroleum Corporation (APC) is among the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in the world, with about 3 billion barrels of oil equivalent of proved reserves. The company explores and produces natural gas, crude oil, condensate and natural gas liquids (NGLs). Its major operations are located onshore United States and in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico. Anadarko also has operations in Algeria, Brazil, China, Ghana, Indonesia, Mozambique, Sierra Leone and other countries. Its main competitors are ExxonMobil, BP, ConocoPhillips and Chevron.

Exxon Mobil (XOM) is the largest independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in the world and competes with other major oil companies like BP (BP), Chesapeake (CHK), Anadarko (APC) and Chevron (CVX). We have a near $79 price estimate for the company. In its earnings announcement, the company highlighted its replacement rate for its oil and gas reserves.

• Natural gas is a greener fuel than either coal or oil;
• Natural gas is cheap;

What are liquid natural gas converters and how do they work? Natural gas is transported in liquid form called liquefied natural gas (LNG). In its liquid form it can be transported anywhere in the world. To be useful, it must be converted back into gas form. This is done with floating regasification tankers, which will be increasing in demand over the next decade, according to BloombergBusinessweek. The tankers can dock at a gas pipeline terminal and pump the gas back into local pipelines. One company, Teekay (TK) has such a tanker.

The shares of electric power/natural gas play Dominion Resources (D), first discussed on May 8, 2009 at a price of $31.87, pulled-back this fall after testing $45.

Even so, investors who can tolerate moderate risk should view that retreat as an opportunity to scoop-up shares: particularly in uncertain economic times, rare is the day you should lose faith in a utility play.

Veteran stock and investment analyst and now Bedford Oak Advisors Chairman Harvey Eisen has weighed-in on the oil/natural gas kabuki dance, with a bullish outlook for natural gas.

Oil, which historically trades at about 8 times the price of natural gas, currently is trading at about 20 times natural gas.

On Tuesday at mid-day, oil traded up 58 cents to $88.37 per barrel, while natural gas was down 1 cent to $4.40 per million British thermal units (MMBtu).

I first wrote about Westport Innovations (WPRT) on March 19, 2010, at a price of $15.43. Its shares have meandered for the past threes months, but I still like the shares. Here's why.

(Note: I consider Westport to be a high-risk stock not suitable for low-risk/moderate-risk investors.)

Westport develops high-performance internal combustion engine and fuel systems that run on natural gas, biomethane, and hydrogen.