Mark, my personal style is to avoid companies that introduce extra geopolitical and/or currency risks into the mix. Further, if they trade on foreign exchanges, the financials aren’t always as transparent. High risk, but potentially high reward. Just depends on your style. Of those you mention, I would favor Genel Energy as the most solid of the three.

There’s no fundamental difference, though, as I look at it, the two picks described as “Midstream” are more involved in “Gathering & Processing” like TRGP than in long-haul transport like the other “pipeline” plays we recommend. But EQM, for example, does gathering as well as interstate transport, just like WMB. I’d treat these designations as interchangeable.

Yes, Alaskan North Slope (ANS) crude is sour.

There is a lot of competition for drilling rigs, so how soon they can drill 200 wells is debatable. But, with the change in the law in Alaska, I know companies will be allocating more money to developing oil in Alaska. I think the politicians are overly optimistic about what these changes will deliver. My expectation is that the decline in crude oil production in Alaska may slow, but I don’t see the decline reversing direction. We won’t really have a good idea of the impact for 3 to 5 years when a lot of these new projects would begin to pay off.

Look at the evolution of oil production in the US as the fracking revolution took hold. The production decline slowed, flattened, and then reversed direction over a period of several years. The situation in Alaska won’t be as dramatic, but it will take several years to determine the impact of the change in the law.

Mark, we inherited some Sandridge companies when I took over here, but we dumped them because we were very unhappy with management. If you look at the March 11, 2013 issue of The Energy Strategist, we have an analysis in “Is Sandridge Just Another Fossil?”

Since Tom Ward has been dumped — with a platinum parachute despite the horrible performance investors had to suffer under his management — there is reason to hope that they might pull themselves together, but he didn’t leave the Sandridge companies in good shape financially. We try to stay away from investments with baggage, and this one will have baggage for a while.

Mark, Targa Resources is one of our Best Buys, and Devon is a Buy as well. I own Devon myself, as I think it has been undervalued for a long time, and it’s bound to make a move up as the company appears to be making the right moves. But it may take a few quarters for investors to recognize that Devon has turned a corner. So if I had to bet, I would bet you will be ahead a year from now if you made those moves.

Thanks for your suggestion, will do.