Australia-based research firm Macquarie Equities Research reaffirmed its OUTPERFORM rating for Strategic Oil and Gas (SOG:TSX) and maintained its target share price of C$2.50.

Macquarie Equities Research maintained its OUTPERFORM rating for WesternZagros Resources (WZR:TSX) and left its target share price of C$1.45 unchanged. This target price is based on a multiple of 1x RENAV.

Macquarie Equities Research (MER) said that although second quarter 2011 results for PetroBakken Energy (PBN:TSX) were slightly below expectations, MER was maintaining its rating of NEUTRAL for the company's stock.

In the wake of second quarter results, Raymond James issued three recommendations for those watching oil stocks: pressure pumping services are an attractive play, drillers are being undervalued and rental companies should perform well.

Financial services firm Raymond James recently upgraded Petroquest Energy (PQ:NYSE) to OUTPERFORM from MARKET PERFORM based in part of the company's strong second quarter results.

Raymond James researchers predict that the overall domestic U.S. oil supply will increase – but only modestly - over the next five years.

Wunderlich Securities recently raised the price target for Approach Resources Inc. (AREX:NASDAQ) by $3 to $41, to reflect updates the company made to its mid-year reserves estimate of 66.8 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe).

Daylight Energy Ltd. (DAY:TO) has invested $100 million to obtain rights to drill for Alberta Duvernay shale oil.