As the global economy slows, the energy sec­tor has suffered a selloff as anxious investors fret over weakening demand. In recent months, West Texas Intermediate crude, the US benchmark for oil prices, fell from a high of about $110 per barrel to its current level of about $85 per barrel, while the Eu­ropean benchmark Brent crude dropped from around $130 per barrel to $100 per barrel.

Despite these concerns, reports from the US Depart­ment of Energy and the International Energy Agen­cy show global reserves of crude oil are down, even though energy demand is now projected to grow faster than previously estimated.

So this moment of weakness offers an excellent op­portunity to pick up shares of energy-related com­panies such as Weatherford International (NYSE: WFT), which is currently trading near the bottom of its 52-week range.

In addition to a sluggish macroeconomic environ­ment, Weatherford has also been navigating a tax accounting storm. In March, the company reported it would be forced to restate earnings as far back as 2007 due to an estimated $500 million in tax accounting er­rors related to weak internal controls. That marks the second time the company has had to contend with tax issues in less than a year.

While these tax problems have understandably shaken investors’ confidence in management—and claimed the job of the company’s chief accounting of­ficer—they aren’t expected to have a hugely materi­al impact on the company. And malfeasance doesn’t seem to be an issue here. Rather, with 543 subsidiar­ies and other assorted operations spanning the globe, the errors seem to stem from a misinterpretation of ac­counting rules. Tax reporting has also been complicat­ed by the fact that Weatherford has changed its coun­try of domicile twice over the past decade, moving from the US to Bermuda and then to Switzerland.

Nevertheless, Weatherford actually has a lot going for it.

The company is the leading supplier of artificial lift equipment, which is used to increase the flow of liq­uids from wells, boosting production from mature wells and allowing more residual liquids to be re­moved. The technology is also useful in extracting oil from unconventional wells, which are often in low-pressure environments. Additionally, the company has keenly focused on offshore oil projects around the world, which is a corner of the oil market that’s garner­ing increasing attention from major oil producers.

Weatherford has built a strong international busi­ness, particularly in Latin America where there have been a number of new oil discoveries, such as the vast Libra field off the coast of Brazil. The company also has a growing presence in Africa, which has become an increasingly attractive market following a series of major oil and gas finds over the past decade. In the Middle East, the company recently signed an $850 million long-term contract to provide services in Iraq.

Weatherford’s revenue growth has outpaced its in­dustry peers over the past few quarters, which enabled earnings to jump 70 percent in the first quarter from a year ago. Meanwhile, shares of the company’s stock are trading at a discount on both a price-to-book and price-to-sales basis.

All it would take to spur the next ascent in Weath­erford’s shares is a slight improvement in the glob­al economy and energy prices. In the meantime, the company is also an attractive takeover target for its larger competitors, such as Schlumberger (NYSE: SLB) or even Halliburton (NYSE: HAL), which would love to get a hold of Weatherford’s proprietary technologies and book of business.

What do you think of this article? Please post your feedback in the “comments” section below!