The Oil Stock Subsector That Turned $10,000 Into $77

In 2014, oil was all the rage. After spending nearly all of 2013 above $100 per barrel, Brent crude stayed above the century mark for the first half of 2014, peaking at $115 per barrel in midsummer. Triple-digit oil, or so it seemed, was here to stay. At the time, onshore oil was steadily getting harder to find and more expensive to extract. Shale oil was getting started, but pulling oil out of those tight formations was very expensive and required constant drilling of new wells since output declined quickly.

So, a lot of attention went to offshore drillers. After all, the biggest untapped oil reservoirs on earth were under the world's oceans, and while it would take a lot of time and money to reach it, when brought online, it would prove very profitable. So, investors piled into this opportunity for profits from the next big phase of oil resource development.

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