ATP Oil & Gas Shares Popped: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of oil producer ATP Oil & Gas (NAS: ATPG) popped for the second straight day, climbing 10% in intraday trading as I write.

So what: The move that started yesterday was driven by ATP starting production on one of its deepwater wells in the Gulf of Mexico. The Mississippi Canyon Block 941 A-2 well has initially produced more than 7,000 barrels of oil per day.

Now what: This is the third well in the Telemark Hub to begin production, and a fourth well is expected to begin production later this year. All together, production is now more than 31,000 barrels of oil per day. After a few weeks of shares gyrating 10% higher or lower almost every day, maybe this will give the bulls a chance to take control and send ATP higher. But a little help from higher oil prices wouldn't hurt.

Interested in more info on ATP Oil & Gas? Add it to your watchlist.

At the time thisarticle was published Fool contributor Travis Hoium does not have a position in any company mentioned. You can follow Travis on Twitter at @FlushDrawFool, check out his personal stock holdings or follow his CAPS picks at TMFFlushDraw.Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

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