The disaster in the Gulf of Mexico is likely to have positive ramifications for Cameron International (NYSE: CAM), as the political fallout could usher in stringent regulations governing blowout preventers (BOP), subsea equipment and redundant safety systems on rigs. Age limits on BOPs and other key equipment are another possibility.

Such an outcome would be consistent with past experience in the energy industry. After the Exxon Valdez spill, the government pushed oil companies to use double-hull tankers and phase out single hulls. And after the accident at the Sago coal mine in 2005, the government required companies to use better seals in underground mines and undergo additional safety inspections. Finally, after one rig broke free of its moorings during the vicious hurricane season of 2005, the government made safety regulations governing mooring rigs in foul weather more stringent.

Because Cameron International is one of the world’s top producers of BOPs, it would benefit substantially from any regulations that require drilling contractors to upgrade equipment or replace it more frequently. The firm would also benefit if contractors have BOP manufacturers perform routine maintenance on the equipment to ensure quality control.

A brief review of Cameron International’s operations and growth prospects is in order. The company divides its business into three main segments: drilling and production systems (65 percent of revenues), valves and measurement (23 percent) and compression systems (12 percent).

The all-important drilling and production systems (DPS) division focuses on a wide variety of products used to control underground pressures and the flow of oil or gas from wells. Examples include both surface and subsea wellheads, risers used to transport oil and gas from subsea wells to the surface and, of course, BOPs.

DPS involves both long-cycle and short-cycle businesses. Short-cycle businesses consist of equipment orders that are extremely sensitive to the rig count; for example, orders for surface wellheads in North America rise and fall quickly depending on commodity prices and drilling activity.

Long-cycle businesses are mainly backlog businesses. A large national oil company such as Wildcatters recommendation Petrobras (NYSE: PBR A) might put out a tender to buy hundreds of subsea trees to support a multi-year deepwater drilling and development program.

Trees are the network of valves, pipes and hydraulic equipment placed on a completed deepwater well to control the flow of oil and gas; the term “tree” is actually short for “Christmas tree” because the basic shape of this equipment is vaguely reminiscent of a holiday tree. Several companies would compete for such an order, and the company or companies that win the bid would then add these orders to the backlog.

Spending on major projects of the sort Petrobras has undertaken in recent years isn’t particularly sensitive to commodity prices. Cameron and its peers pursue major deals that can involve billions in capital investment over the span of several years.

In a normal cycle, the short-cycle businesses will be first to improve as oil and gas prices rise. Once major operators gain confidence in the sustainability of higher commodity prices, they invest in major new projects. The pick-up in international spending ultimately drives growth in Cameron’s long-cycle businesses.

A collapse in commodity prices from mid-2008 to early 2009 and global credit crunch resulted in a down-cycle for all oilfield equipment companies, including Cameron. Short-cycle business lines suffered horribly as North American drilling activity fell sharply, crimping demand for surface wellheads and trees.

Although spending on deepwater and international developments proved more resilient, these orders also slowed as oil tumbled from nearly $150 a barrel to the mid-$30s. Several major international oil projects were delayed, including a few in the Middle East. And even as oil prices headed higher into mid-2009, big international oil companies were reluctant to accelerate spending plans; these firms needed to be confident in the sustainability of the commodity price recovery.

Cameron is a great company with outstanding leverage to the long-term growth in deepwater drilling, a key play on my “end of easy oil” thesis. Cameron International Corp rates a buy under 46.