Interested in adding a $100 stock to your portfolio that’s got about an additional 43% to go before it reaches that lofty price tag?

That exciting prospect is what one West Coast money manager sees for what he and some other oil and gas experts regard as the cheapest energy stock around.

That $100 target is not based strictly on price alone but also on fundamentals, growth prospects, international exposure, and the company’s valuation as related to its peers.

The company is ConocoPhillips, the nation’s third largest integrated oil and gas company behind ExxonMobil and Chevron, with 2006 sales of $188.5 billion. Our Conoco bull is Leonard Mohr, a dogged energy tracker whose $140 million portfolio has 17% of its assets in energy stocks.

At the stock’s current levels ($70.45), Mr. Mohr, a principal of Los Angeles-based MCR Associates, views Conoco’s shares as “a real steal.” Buy it today, and two years out, he says, “I think it’ll be a $100 stock. If you have the patience, it’s like buying a dollar for around 70 cents.”

A former crack institutional energy analyst, Alan Gaines, now CEO of Houston-based oil and gas producer Dune Energy, also takes a positive view of the company. If you’re looking for a large, multinational oil company with astute management and solid international properties, “Conoco is the cheapest of its peer group,” he says. By year-end, he figures, the stock, in which he holds a small stake, should trade at around $80.

Why is the stock supposedly so cheap? Investment adviser Richard Moroney, who echoes the “cheap stock” characterization, attributes much of Conoco’s current low valuation to Wall Street’s overriding view that the company overpaid last year when it shelled out $35.6 billion to buy natural-gas-producing giant Burlington Resources. Likewise, he points out, many energy experts expect oil to trade at lower prices next year. As oil prices go, so go earnings.

No one, of course, expects the price of oil to fall out of bed, but a number of pros think a drop to around $50 is plausible. As for some speculation that oil could skid to around $40, Mr. Gaines, citing supply-demand factors and the very real threat of supply disruptions at any time, ridicules such talk. Barring an economic collapse, he says, “I don’t think we’ll see $40 again in our lifetime.” He also believes the jury is still out on whether Conoco did indeed overpay for Burlington.

Conoco, which explores for oil and gas in more than 30 countries and boasts estimated proven reserves of 1.5 billion barrels of oil equivalent, trades at 7.3 times trailing 12-months earnings. At just about eight times the consensus profit estimate for 2007, Mr. Moroney notes Conoco trades at a discount of at least 24% to rivals Exxon and Chevron. It also trades at a 21% discount to its own five-year average price-earnings multiple.

Mr. Moroney, the research chief of Dow Theory Forecasts, one of the country ‘s top investment newsletters, argues that Conoco — which is expected to generate cash flow this year of about $27 billion — has the most appeal among the integrated oil companies. He sees the stock climbing to about $85 during the next 18 months.

Mr. Moroney says he is especially turned on by its leading positions in natural gas and heavy crude in North America, a legacy position in the North Sea, and emerging growth in Russia, the Caspian, the Middle East, and the Asia Pacific region. They all provide a solid base for increasing future production, he says. Conoco’s 20% equity investment in Lukoil, a leading Russian oil company, is viewed as another source of reserve and production growth.

Another plus: its strong refining position. To accommodate expected growth in global demand for refined petroleum products, Conoco is evaluating the opening of new refineries in the Middle East and Asia. Mr. Moroney figures global difficulties in boosting refinery capacity should keep global utilization rates at or above 90% during the next two years, a trend that will benefit Conoco.

In the near term, however, Conoco’s profit picture is cloudy. Consensus Wall Street estimates call for $8.49 a share this year, down from a reported $9.99 last year, and $8.49 again in 2008.

Looking further out, however, the picture is much clearer, Mr. Moroney says. Rising demand for oil and gas, coupled with a growing supply-demand imbalance, suggests to him that Conoco can deliver solid long-term profit growth, on the order, he believes, of between 6% and 9% a year during the next 5 years.

A word of caution: Conoco is hardly a state secret. The stock is up sharply from its 2005 low of $41.90 and last year’s close of $54.90.

dandordan@aol.com