Better Buy: ConocoPhillips vs. ExxonMobil

Small companies are riskier; big companies are safer. At least, that's the conventional wisdom. But size isn't always enough. It certainly hasn't helped the largest publicly traded U.S. oil company, ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), or the largest independent U.S. oil and gas exploration and production company, ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), over the last few years.

The shares of both of these domestic giants were hammered by the stock market when oil prices collapsed in 2014, and three years later, their prices still haven't fully recovered. But that could be a buying opportunity. Let's look at these titans of American oil and gas and see which one looks like the better buy.

Oil stocks have been hit hard by the downtrend in the energy industry, but there are still some good buys to be found. Image source: Getty Images.

Source: Fool.com