A Bet on Natural Gas? XOM, CVX, CHK, ATLS, BP

Exxon (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) have made large natural gas purchases recently. Exxon purchased XTO Energy, while Chevron recently made a bid for Atlas Energy (NASDAQ: ATLS). These are large bets on the future of natural gas. While the United States has been skeptical to begin switching to the cleaner, greener fuel, the rest of the world has already begun major transformations. Oil companies such as BP (NYSE: BP) have shown that deep water drilling can be quite dangerous - for people and the environment. Oil itself much more costly than natural gas, which is abundant in America. Chesapeake Energy (NYSE: CHK) for example, has partnered with other major companies and has even begun selling its major natural gas stakes to Total SA, Europe's third-largest oil company. Chesapeake has vast amounts of natural gas properties which other countries are hungry for. If the US does not want its own natural gas plays, there's plenty of other countries and companies around the world that are willing to pay big bucks to bet on the fuel for the future.