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By Shariq Khan and Arathy S Nair
April 14 (Reuters) - Just like the street hustler turned commodities broker in the 1980s comedy "Trading Places" for which he named his twitter account, @WillRayValentin (BRV) is an outsider making waves in the world of energy stocks trading.
A petroleum engineer by background, BRV is a member of the 'Energy Fintwit' (EFT) community on Twitter made of oil industry insiders - engineers, geologists and former traders - who have gained notoriety and thousands of followers for their unabashed bearish tweets about the U.S. shale industry.
As U.S. crude oil prices halved in March under the weight of recession fears and a price war, many of the group's members had a field day as their 'shorts' on U.S. shale companies - bets that their stock prices would fall - paid off.
BRV's own trading account, which he shared with Reuters, showed he pocketed $4 million in just one week between March 9 and March 16.
"I've made a lot more money shorting energy stocks than my entire career working 9-5. It was like picking money up off the street," BRV told Reuters in a phone interview. Like many others, he will not reveal his name, citing fears of industry retribution.
With their invective-laden diatribes against oil executives, memes and cartoons, posts by the likes of BRV, @HalliBu78316368 (Halli Burton) or @EnergyCynic (Energy Cynic), have gotten greater attention last year following some prescient calls.
"If you want to know the real narrative in energy, particularly the bear arguments on investor relations, you have to be on Twitter," said Ethan Bellamy, energy sector analyst at RW Baird, one of some half a dozen analysts and investors who told Reuters following the group is now part of their routine.
Its most prominent member is @Mr_Skilling (Mr. Skilling), whose alias is an ironic tribute to Jeff Skilling, a former executive jailed for his role in the accounting scandal that brought down energy trading giant Enron nearly two decades ago.
Mr. Skilling counts journalists, analysts and politicians among his roughly 9,000 followers, more than some well-regarded industry analysts.
Jeff Skilling's lawyer did not respond to requests for comment.
Dan Pickering, founder and CIO at Pickering Energy Partners, and a 30-year energy sector veteran said posts by "guerilla activists" like Mr. Skilling do factor in his analysis.
"There are absolutely institutional investors that follow this space. I've gotten questions about Mr. Skilling from my investor base."