Hot Gas Stocks To Invest In Right Now

There are literally billions of gallons of water used every day in extracting oil and natural gas from the earth. The onset of new fracking techniques has only accelerated the use of water by the energy industry. Fracking has also put a spotlight on the importance of the safe treatment of the water used to ensure environmental health.

The only company focusing all of its energy on meeting the needs of this booming industry is Nuverra Environmental Services (NYSE: NES  ) . Formerly known as Heckmann, the company has spent the last few years building out its infrastructure to seamlessly handle the energy industry's water demands.

Motley Fool contributor Brian Stoffel is currently considering Nuverra as one of the five stocks to buy in June for his Roth IRA. He's been calling out one company per month for almost two years now, and the portfolio has returned 25%, beating the S&P 500 by over four percentage points.

In this video, Brian lays out his case for investing with Nuverra.

Hot Energy Stocks To Watch Right Now: Lehigh Gas Partners LP (LGP)

Lehigh Gas Partners LP, incorporated on December 2, 2011, is engaged in the wholesale distribution of motor fuels, consisting of gasoline and diesel fuel, and to own and lease real estate used in the retail distribution of motor fuels. It generates revenues from the wholesale distribution of motor fuels to gas stations, truck stops and toll road plazas, which it refers to as sites, and from real estate leases. It generates cash flows from the wholesale distribution of motor fuels by charging a per gallon margin. Its supply agreements with lessee dealers have three-year terms, and its supply agreements with independent dealers generally have 10-year terms. In May 2011, the Company acquired from Motiva Enterprises, LLC (Motiva) a total of 26 Shell Oil Company branded gas stations and convenience stores (Shell Locations) located in New Jersey and also acquired 56 wholesale fuel supply agreements. In September 2013, the Company announced that it has completed asset acquisition in the Knoxville, Tennessee region from Rocky Top Markets, LLC and Rocky Top Properties, LLC.

The Company generates cash flows from rental income by collecting rent from lessee dealers and Lehigh Gas-Ohio, LLC (LGO) pursuant to lease agreements. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it distributed approximately 561 million gallons of motor fuels to 570 sites. In addition, it has agreements requiring the operators of these sites to purchase motor fuels from it. As of December 31, 2011, it distributed motor fuels to the classes of businesses, including 185 independent dealers; 181 sites owned or leased by it and that will be operated by LGO following the closing of this offering; 134 sites owned or leased by it and operated by lessee dealers; and 70 sites distributed through six sub-wholesalers. In May 2012, the Company entered into a master lease agreement to lease 120 sites from an affiliate of Getty Realty Corp. Of the 120 sites, 74 are located in Massachusetts, 22 are located in New Hampshire, 15 are located in Pen! nsylvania and nine are located in Maine. The Company is focused on owning and leasing sites located in metropolitan and urban areas. It owns and leases sites located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts, Kentucky, New Hampshire and Maine.

Wholesale Motor Fuel Distribution

The Company purchases branded and unbranded motor fuel from integrated oil companies, refiners and unbranded fuel suppliers. It distributes motor fuel to lessee dealers, independent dealers, LGO and sub-wholesalers. The Company is a distributor of brands of motor fuel, as well as unbranded motor fuel. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it distributed approximately 561 million gallons of motor fuel. It distributes motor fuel to lessee dealers and independent dealers under supply agreements. It provides credit terms to its lessee dealers and independent dealers, which are generally one to three days.

The Company distributes motor fuel to sub-wholesalers under supply agreements. Under its supply agreements, it agrees to supply a particular branded motor fuel or unbranded motor fuel to the sub-wholesaler. Motor fuels are sold to the sub-wholesalers at rack plus. It provides credit terms to its sub-wholesalers, which are one to three days. Branded motor fuels are purchased from integrated oil companies and refiners under supply agreements. During the year ended December 31, 2011, its wholesale business purchased approximately 46%, 23%, 22% and 5% of its motor fuel from ExxonMobil, BP Products North America, Inc. (BP), Shell Oil Company (Shell) and Valero respectively.

Real Estate

The Company owns or lease 315 sites located in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ohio, New York, Massachusetts and Kentucky. 186 of the sites it owns fee simple and 107 sites it leases from third-party landlords. Over 90% of its sites are located in metropolitan and urban areas. It derives its rental income from sites it owns or leases. It collects rent from the lessee dealers and! LGO purs! uant to lease agreements it has with the lessee dealers and LGO. All of its 186 owned sites are leased to lessee dealers or LGO. Its leases with the lessee dealers have three year terms. As of December 31, 2011, the average remaining lease term for owned sites it leases to lessee dealers was 1.8 years. As of December 31, 2011, it also leased 98 sites from third-parties and then sub-leased these sites to lessee dealers and LGO. As of December 31, 2011, the average remaining lease term for sites it leases from third-parties was 7.5 years. Its sub-leases with the lessee dealers have three-year terms. The average remaining sub-lease term for sites it sub-lease to lessee dealers is 4.2 years.

The rental income the Company earns from sites it owns or leases include rental income associated with the personal property located on these sites, such as motor fuel pumps. It sells sites, which it owns and then leases the sites back from the buyer. It refers to these transactions as sale-leasebacks. In these sale-leaseback transactions, it retains the environmental liabilities associated with the site. As of December 11, 2012, the Company leased 22 sale-leaseback sites. As of December 31, 2011, the average remaining lease term of these sale-leaseback sites was 17.5 years. It sub-leases its sale-leaseback sites to lessee dealers and LGO. Its sub-leases with the lessee dealers have three-year terms. As of December 31, 2011, the average remaining sub-lease term for sites it sub-lease to lessee dealers was 2.1 years. As of December 31, 2011, the Company owned 186 sites.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Robert Rapier]

  Non-traditional MLPs like Susser and Lehigh Gas Partners (NYSE: LGP) have risks and opportunities that are different from the midstream mainstream. Such MLPs can provide some diversification from the midstream MLPs that make up the bulk of the space, with less commodity and execution risk than most upstream partnerships. On the other hand, they are unlikely to have the same potential upside and growth opportunities as most midstream names. I might consider Susser as part a broader portfolio of MLPs, but it wouldn’t be a core holding in my own portfolio.

Hot Gas Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Bill Barrett Corp (BBG)

Bill Barrett Corporation explores for and develops oil and natural gas in the Rocky Mountain region of the United States. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had four active development programs, including the Gibson Gulch area in the Piceance Basin, the Uinta Oil Program in the Uinta Basin, the West Tavaputs area in the Uinta Basin and, following an acquisition in August 2011, a primarily oil program in the Denver-Julesburg Basin. The Company holds acreage in a number of basins with plans for drilling activity in the Powder River, Southern Alberta, Paradox and San Juan Basins. Among its four key development programs, three of the programs target oil and high British Thermal Unit (BTU) content natural gas that can be processed into natural gas liquids (NGLs), while its exploration program is exclusively focused on oil and high BTU content natural gas. On December 31, 2012, the Company sold its natural gas assets to an affiliate of Vanguard Natural Resources, LLC. In December 2013, Bill Barrett Corp closed its sale of the West Tavaputs natural gas property located in the Uinta Basin, Utah to affiliates of EnerVest, Ltd.

Piceance Basin

The Piceance Basin is located in northwestern Colorado. As of December 31, 2011, its estimated proved reserves was 596 billions of cubic feet equivalents. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had interests in 826 gross (779.8 net) producing wells, and it serves as the operator in 796 gross producing wells. As of December 31, 2011, it held 42,633 net undeveloped acres, including the Cottonwood Gulch prospect. As of December 31, 2011, it was in the process of drilling three gross (three net) wells and waiting to complete 44 gross (44 net) wells within the Piceance Basin.

The Gibson Gulch area is a basin-centered gas play along the north end of the Divide Creek anticline near the eastern limits of the Piceance Basin�� productive Mesaverde (Williams Fork) trend at depths of approximately 7,500 feet. Its natural gas production in this ! basin is gathered through its own gathering system and EnCana Oil & Gas Corporation�� gathering system and delivered to markets through a variety of pipelines, including pipelines owned by Questar Pipeline Company, Northwest Pipeline, Colorado Interstate Gas, TransColorado Pipeline, Wyoming Interstate Gas Company Pipeline and Rockies Express Pipeline LLC. The energy content of its Piceance gas is 1.15 BTU per cubic foot and the natural gas is processed at an Enterprise Products Partners L.P. plant in Meeker, Colorado.

Uinta Basin

The Uinta Basin is located in northeastern Utah. As of December 31, 2011, in West Tavaputs Area, it had the estimated proved reserves was 460.7 billions of cubic feet equivalents. As of December 31, 2011, it had interests in 271 gross (258 net) producing wells, and it serves as the operator in 271 gross producing wells. During the year ended December 31, 2011, the net production was 32 billions of cubic feet equivalents. As of December 31, 2011, it held 22,618 net undeveloped acres, along with 16,119 net acres that are subject to drill-to-earn agreements. As of December 31, 2011, it was in the process of drilling one gross (one net) well and waiting to complete 17 gross (12.5 net) wells.

The Company serves as operator of its interests in the West Tavaputs Area. As of December 31, 2011, it had identified 622 potential drilling locations and 460.7 billions of cubic feet equivalents of estimated proved reserves with a weighted average working interest of 96%. The Company is actively drilling its shallow program, which targets the gas-productive sands of the Wasatch and Mesaverde formations at depths down to 7,600 feet on average. The Company drilled 92 wells during the year ended December 31, 2011, and completed 89 wells. Two of the new wells during 2011, targeted the Mancos and Niobrara formations to test these deeper horizons. Additionally, two recompletions were performed on existing wells in the Mancos and Niobrara formations. T runni! ng a one ! rig drilling program to drill and complete wells in the Wasatch and Measverde formations in the West Tavaputs area of the Uinta Basin. Its natural gas production in the West Tavaputs Area is gathered through its own gathering systems and delivered into Questar Pipeline Company and Three Rivers Gathering, LLC. Gas delivered into Questar Pipeline is processed by Questar Transportation Services Company, and gas delivered into Three Rivers Gathering can be processed by QEP Field Services Co and Chipita Processing LLC. Gas can then be marketed through a variety of pipelines including Questar Pipeline Company, Northwest Pipeline, CIG, Ruby Pipeline LLC, Rockies Express Pipeline LLC, and Wyoming Interstate Gas Company Pipeline.

The Uinta Oil Program is a fractured oil play with multiple pay zones. The program consists of three main areas of development, including Blacktail Ridge, Lake Canyon and newly acquired East Bluebell. As of December 31, 2011, it had identified three formations: the Green River, Wasatch and Uteland Butte, with 1,688 potential drilling locations and 172.8 billions of cubic feet equivalents of estimated proved reserves and a weighted average working interest of 54%. The Company is also in the planning stages of selecting 80 acre pilot test areas across the field. It is running a three rig drilling program in the Uinta Oil Program which may be adjusted throughout the year as business conditions and operating results warrant.

The Blacktail Ridge area consists of both vertical and horizontal wells that target the Wasatch, Green River, Uteland Butte and Mahogany formations. At December 31, 2011, it had an acreage position of 23,037 net acres with an additional 16,660 net acres subject to drill-to-earn agreements. Under its exploration and development agreement with the Ute Indian Tribe of the Uintah and Ouray Reservation, (Ute Tribe), and Ute Development Corporation, it serves as operator and has the right to earn a minimum of a 50% working interest in all formation! s. Throug! h December 31, 2011, it had earned 17,588 gross (8,794 net) tribal acres in this area. The Ute Tribe assigned its participation rights pursuant to the exploration and development agreement to Ute Energy Corporation (Ute Energy).

The Lake Canyon area consists of both vertical and horizontal wells that target the Wasatch, Green River, and Uteland Butte formations. At December 31, 2011, it had an acreage position of 21,595 net acres with an additional 44,228 net acres subject to drill-to-earn agreements. Under the amended exploration and development agreement with the Ute Tribe and Ute Development Corporation, it operates the northern block of Lake Canyon (consisting of 19,781 net tribal acres) with a 75% working interest, and its industry partner operates the southern block where it retains a 25% working interest. The agreement also requires the Company and its industry partner to drill at least two wells per year from 2012 through 2015 and an additional 14 wells at some point between 2012 and 2015. Through December 31, 2011, it had earned 10,200 gross (4,640 net) tribal acres in this area. The Ute Tribe assigned its participation rights pursuant to the Lake Canyon amended agreement to Ute Energy.

On June 8, 2011, the Company closed on an acquisition of oil properties and related assets in the Uinta Basin referred to as East Bluebell. The acquired properties, which consist of 20,413 net acres, are located approximately 35 miles east-northeast of the Blacktail Ridge and Lake Canyon projects with a mixture of fee, state, federal and tribal minerals both unitized and non-unitized. Three federal units exist within the acquired leasehold, Aurora Unit, Ouray Valley Unit and Roosevelt Unit. Also included in the acquisition was associated gathering and transportation infrastructure.

Denver-Julesburg Basin

The Denver-Julesburg Basin (DJ Basin) is located in Colorado�� eastern plains and parts of southern Wyoming, western Kansas and western Nebraska. As of D! ecember 3! 1, 2011, its estimated proved reserves were 41.1 billions of cubic feet equivalents. As of December 31, 2011, it had interests in 216 gross (156.6 net) producing wells, and it serves as operator in 148 gross wells. As of December 31, 2011, the Company held 52,075 net undeveloped acres. As of December 31, 2011, it was in the process of drilling one gross (one net) well and waiting to complete two gross (two net) wells within the DJ Basin. The main oil and gas formations being targeted in the DJ Basin are the tight Muddy J Sandstone, Codell Sandstone and the Niobrara.

On August 16, 2011, it closed on an acquisition of oil and gas properties in the DJ Basin. This acquisition included approximately 26,416 gross (17,074 net) development and exploratory acreage in the Niobrara oil play in the Borie, Chalk Bluffs and Briggsdale prospect areas of Laramie County, Wyoming and Weld County, Colorado. With the acquisition, it also obtained operatorship of 126 producing wells and an interest in another 60 non-operated wells. The Company acquired another 21,903 gross acres (14,800 net) in the Niobrara oil and gas play in the Greater Wattenberg Area of Weld and Adams Counties in Colorado. The Company is running a one rig drilling program to drill and complete horizontal wells targeting oil in the Niobrara formation in the DJ Basin.

Powder River Basin

The Powder River Basin is primarily located in northeastern Wyoming. Its development operations are conducted in its coalbed methane (CBM) fields along with a Powder River Deep Program targeting oil. As of December 31, 2011, its estimated proved reserves were 55.7 billions of cubic feet equivalents. As of December 31, 2011, it had interests in 742 gross (472 net) producing wells and it serves as operator in 580 gross wells. As of December 31, 2011, it held 45,652 net undeveloped acres. During 2011, the Company�� net production was 13.2 billions of cubic feet equivalents. As of December 31, 2011, the Company was not in the process of! drilling! or completing any CBM wells within the Powder River Basin. Coalbed methane wells are drilled to 1,200 feet on average, targeting the Big George Coals. Its natural gas production in this basin is gathered through gathering and pipeline systems owned by Fort Union Gas Gathering, LLC and Thunder Creek Gas Services.

The Company�� Powder River Deep Program consists of vertical and horizontal wells targeting various Cretaceaous oil bearing horizons, including the Parkman, Sussex, Shannon, Niobrara, Turner and Frontier formations. The Company also has an interest in an active Parkman waterflood. At December 31, 2011, it had an interest in 51 gross (10.7 net) producing wells with estimated net proved reserves of three billions of cubic feet equivalents, and it serve as operator in seven gross wells. The Company has increased its net acreage position to 27,201 net acres throughout 2011, along with 11,141 net acres that are subject to drill-to-earn agreements.

Wind River Basin

The Wind River Basin is located in central Wyoming. The Company�� activities are concentrated primarily in the eastern Wind River Basin, along the greater Waltman Arch, where it generally serves as operator. In addition, it has a number of exploration projects, some of which are in areas of the Wind River Basin where it has no existing development operations. As of December 31, 2011, its Estimated proved reserves was 35.2 billions of cubic feet equivalents. As of December 31, 2011, the Company had interests in 152 gross (144.3 net) producing wells, and it serves as operator in 148 gross wells. During 2011, its net production was 5.3 billions of cubic feet equivalents. As of December 31, 2011, it held 180,273 net undeveloped acres. As of December 31, 2011, it was not in the process of drilling or completing wells within the Wind River Basin. its natural gas production in this basin is gathered through its own gathering systems and delivered to markets through pipelines owned by Kinder Morgan Inte! rstate (K! MI) and Colorado Interstate Gas (CIG).

Paradox Basin

The Paradox Basin is located in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah. As of December 31, 2011, it had interests in six gross (5.9 net) producing, or capable of producing, wells, and it serves as operator in six gross wells. As of December 31, 2011, it held 365,988 net undeveloped acres. As of December 31, 2011, the Company was not in the process of drilling or completing wells within the Paradox Basin. Its Paradox Basin prospect targets oil, natural gas and associated natural gas liquids from the Gothic and Hovenweep shales at average vertical depths of 5,800 and 5,700 feet, respectively. Through December 31, 2011, it had drilled four exploratory vertical wells to gather rock property data and nine horizontal well bores in the Gothic shale. Six of the horizontal wells were on production at various times in 2011, of which two have continually produced from inception and thus far exhibit flat decline curves. It serves as operator in this area where it has a working interest of approximately 100%.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Seth Jayson]

  Bill Barrett (NYSE: BBG  ) reported earnings on May 2. Here are the numbers you need to know.

  The 10-second takeaway
  For the quarter ended March 31 (Q1), Bill Barrett missed estimates on revenues and missed expectations on earnings per share.

• [By Jake L'Ecuyer]

  Bill Barrett (NYSE: BBG) was also down, falling 16.07 percent to $23.24 after the company lowered its guidance after the close Tuesday.

  Commodities
  In commodity news, oil traded up 0.16 percent to $97.35, while gold traded up 0.59 percent to $1,258.60.

• [By Rich Smith]

  Denver.-based Bill Barrett Corp. (NYSE: BBG  ) is under new management. The oil and gas developer announced Wednesday that it has confirmed interim Chief Executive Officer R. Scot Woodall as its new permanent president and CEO. The appointment took effect Tuesday.

Hot Gas Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Pengrowth Energy Corp (PGH)

Pengrowth Energy Corporation (Pengrowth) is engaged in the development, production and acquisition of, and the exploration for, oil and natural gas reserves in the provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Ontario and Nova Scotia. The Company�� producing properties include Lindbergh, Swan Hills Area, Greater Olds/Garrington Area and Southeast Saskatchewan. In February 2012, the Company commenced the injection of steam at its Lindbergh pilot project. On May 31, 2012, the Company acquired NAL Energy Corporation. In November 2012, the Company acquired additional Lochend Cardium assets with production capability of approximately 650 barrels of oil equivalent, weighted 95% to light oil. In March 2013, the Company completed the divestiture of its non-core Weyburn asset. Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Eric Volkman]

  The dividends continue to flow for investors in Canada's Pengrowth Energy (NYSE: PGH  ) . The company has declared its latest monthly distribution, which will be US$0.04 per share of its common stock, to be handed out on June 17 to shareholders of record as of May 23. That amount matches each of the company's preceding monthly dividends for calendar 2013.

• [By Eric Volkman]

  Canada's Pengrowth Energy (NYSE: PGH  ) continues to shower dividends from north of the border. The company has set the date for its next monthly common stock distribution of C$0.04 ($0.04) per share, which will be August 15 for shareholders of record as of July 22. That amount matches each of the firm's previous distributions stretching back to December of last year. Prior to that, Pengrowth Energy paid $0.07 per share.

• [By GURUFOCUS]

  Canadian Trusts- Baytex Energy Trust (BTE) | Yield: 6.1%
  - Enerplus Resources Fund (ERF) | Yield: 5.6%
  - Pengrowth Energy Trust (PGH) | Yield: 7.1%

• [By Selena Maranjian]

  Finally, Graham Capital's biggest closed positions included Hess�and calls on the SPDR S&P 500 ETF. Other closed positions of interest include Halcon Resources (NYSE: HK  ) and Pengrowth Energy (NYSE: PGH  ) . Oil and gas company Halcon, operating in the promising Bakken region, as well as Texas' productive Eagle Ford shale region, among others, posted 2012 net daily production 128% higher than year-earlier levels, and proven reserves up 417%. The stock was punished after a disappointing earnings result last month, despite surging revenue. Free cash flow has moved into the red, though.

Hot Gas Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Enbridge Energy Partners LP (EEP)

Enbridge Energy Partners, L.P. (the Partnership) owns and operates crude oil and liquid petroleum transportation and storage assets, and natural gas gathering, treating, processing, transportation and marketing assets in the United States. The Company was formed by its Enbridge Energy Company, Inc. (General Partner), to own and operate the Lakehead system, which is the United States portion of a crude oil and liquid petroleum pipeline system extending from western Canada through the upper and lower Great Lakes region of the United States to eastern Canada. A subsidiary of Enbridge Inc. (Enbridge), owns the Canadian portion of the Mainline system. Enbridge, which is based in Calgary, Alberta, Canada is a provider of energy transportation, distribution and related services in North America and internationally. Enbridge is the ultimate parent of its General Partner. As of December 31, 2011, its portfolio of assets included the approximately 6,500 miles of crude oil gathering and transportation lines and 32 million barrels of crude oil storage and terminaling capacity; natural gas gathering and transportation lines totaling approximately 11,500 miles; nine natural gas treating and 25 natural gas processing facilities with an aggregate capacity of approximately 3,255 million cubic feet per day, including plants; trucks, trailers and railcars for transporting natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil and carbon dioxide, and marketing assets, which provide natural gas supply, transmission, storage and sales services. The Company conducts its business through three business segments: Liquids, Natural Gas and Marketing.

Liquids Segment

The Company�� Lakehead system consists of crude oil and liquid petroleum common carrier pipelines and terminal assets in the Great Lakes and Midwest regions of the United States. The Mainline system serves refining centers in the Great Lakes and Midwest regions of the United States and the Province of Ontario, Canada. Its Lakehead system spans a distance ! of approximately 1,900 miles, and consists of approximately 5,100 miles of pipe with diameters ranging from 12 inches to 48 inches, and is transporter of crude oil and liquid petroleum from Western Canada to the United States. In addition, the system has 61 pump station locations with a total of approximately 900,000 installed horsepower and 72 crude oil storage tanks with capacity of approximately 13.9 million barrels. The Mainline system operates in a segregation, or batch mode, allowing the transport in excess of 50 crude oil commodities, including light, medium and heavy crude oil, condensate and NGLs.

The Company�� Mid-Continent system is located within PADD II and is consisted of its Ozark pipeline and storage terminals at Cushing and El Dorado, Kansas. Its Mid-Continent system includes over 430 miles of crude oil pipelines and 17.3 million barrels of crude oil storage capacity. Its Ozark pipeline transports crude oil from Cushing to Wood River where it delivers to ConocoPhillips��Wood River refinery and interconnects with the Woodpat Pipeline and the Wood River Pipeline. The storage terminals consist of 91 individual storage tanks ranging in size from 58,000 to 575,000 barrels. Of the 17.3 million barrels of storage capacity on its Mid-Continent system, the Cushing terminal accounts for 16.1 million barrels. A portion of the storage facilities are used for operational purposes, while it contracts the remainder of the facilities with various crude oil market participants for their term storage requirements. Contract fees include fixed monthly capacity fees, as well as utilization fees, which it charges for injecting crude oil into and withdrawing crude oil from the storage facilities.

The Company�� Mid-Continent system operates under month-to-month transportation arrangements and both long-term and short-term storage arrangements with its shippers. Its North Dakota system is a crude oil gathering and interstate transportation system servicing the Williston basin in! North Da! kota and Montana, which includes the Bakken and Three Forks formations. The crude oil gathering pipelines of its North Dakota system collect crude oil from points near producing wells in approximately 22 oil fields in North Dakota and Montana. Its North Dakota system is made at Clearbrook to its Lakehead system and to a third-party pipeline system. As of December 31, 2011, its North Dakota system included approximately 240 miles of crude oil gathering lines connected to a transportation line, which is approximately 730 miles long, with a capacity of approximately 210,000 barrels per day. Its North Dakota system also has 21 pump stations, one delivery station and 11 storage facilities with an aggregate working storage capacity of approximately 870,000 barrels. During the year ended December 31, 2011, it added 25,000 barrels per day of capacity from Berthold, North Dakota to the international border near Lignite, North Dakota.

Natural Gas Segment

The Company owns and operates natural gas gathering, treating, processing and transportation systems, as well as trucking, rail and liquids marketing operations. It purchases and gathers natural gas from the wellhead and delivers it to plants for treating and/or processing and to intrastate or interstate pipelines for transmission to wholesale customers, such as power plants, industrial customers and local distribution companies. As of December 31, 2011, it had nine active treating plants and 25 active processing plants, including two hydrocarbon dewpoint control facilities (HCDP) plants. Its treating facilities have a combined capacity, which approximates 1,240 million cubic feet per day while the combined capacity of its processing facilities approximates 2,015 million cubic feet per day, including 350 million cubic feet per day provided by the HCDP plants.

The Company�� natural gas business consists of East Texas system, Anadarko system and North Texas system. East Texas system includes approximately 3,900 miles of nat! ural gas ! gathering and transportation pipelines, eight natural gas treating plants and five natural gas processing plants, including two HCDP plants. Anadarko system consists of approximately 2,900 miles of natural gas gathering and transportation pipelines in southwest Oklahoma and the Texas panhandle, one natural gas treating plant and 11 natural gas processing plants. North Texas system includes approximately 4,700 miles of natural gas gathering pipelines and nine natural gas processing plants located in the Fort Worth basin. Its East Texas system is located in the East Texas basin. Natural gas on its North Texas system is produced in the Barnett shale area within the Fort Worth basin conglomerate. Its Anadarko system is located within the Anadarko basin.

As of December 31, 2011, the Company�� Elk City system includes one carbon dioxide treating plant and three cryogenic processing plants with a total capacity of 370 million cubic feet per day, and a NGL production capability of 20,000 barrels per day. It also includes its trucking and NGL marketing operations in its Natural Gas segment. These operations include the transportation of NGLs, crude oil and other products by truck and railcar from wellheads and treating, processing and fractionation facilities to wholesale customers, such as distributors, refiners and chemical facilities. In addition, its trucking and NGL marketing operations resells these products. Its services are provided using trucks, trailers and rail cars, pipeline capacity, fractionation agreements, product treating and handling equipment. Its trucking operations transport NGLs, condensate and crude oil from its processing facilities and from third party producers to its United States Gulf Coast customers. As of December 31, 2011, its fleet consisted of approximately 220 trucks and 375 trailers. Its trucking and NGL marketing operations are wholesale customers, such as refineries and propane distributors. Its trucking and NGL marketing operations also market products to whol! esale cus! tomers, such as petrochemical plants.

Marketing Segment

The Company�� Marketing segment transacts with various counterparties to provide natural gas supply, transportation, balancing, storage and sales services. Its Marketing business uses third-party storage capacity to balance supply and demand factors within its portfolio. Its Marketing business pays third-party storage facilities and pipelines for the right to store gas for various periods of time. These contracts may be denoted as firm storage, interruptible storage or parking and lending services. Its Marketing business leases third-party pipeline capacity downstream from its Natural Gas assets under firm transportation contracts. This capacity is leased for various lengths of time and at rates.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Aimee Duffy]

  Given the overall performance of the midstream industry during the past year and a half, a company that repeatedly offers up a poor performance come earnings time is going to stand out. Enbridge Energy Partners (NYSE: EEP  ) is one such company. In this video, Fool.com contributor Aimee Duffy takes a quick look at what is hurting EEP, how it compares to its midstream peers, and whether or not this master limited partnership has a bright future ahead of it.

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  In total, the current capacity for oil pipelines delivering all types of crude to the U.S. is about 3.4 million barrels per day. These pipelines are all operated by four companies.

  Pipeline Owner/Operator Capacity Destination Express-Platte Spectra Energy (NYSE: SE  ) � 280,000 bpd Wood River, Ill. Keystone TransCanada 590,000 bpd Cushing, Okla. Enbridge and Lakehead System Enbridge (NYSE: ENB  ) and Enbridge Energy Partners (NYSE: EEP  ) 2.5 million bpd Multiple, but 190,000 bpd to Cushing, Okla.

  For the existing Canada-U.S. pipelines, there is probably little to no effect whether the pipeline gets built or not. The capacity for these pipelines is already contracted out, and a majority of the oil from these pipelines goes to either the Midwest or Rocky Mountain regions.

• [By Maria Armental var popups = dojo.query(".socialByline .popC"); popups.forEach]

  Enbridge Inc.(ENB.T) and Enbridge Energy Partners L.P (EEP). said their mainline replacement program will cost an estimated $7.5 billion. The project, the largest in Enbridge’s history, includes the replacement of pipe in Enbridge’s Canadian and U.S. mainline system running from Edmonton, Alberta, to Superior, Wis.

Hot Gas Stocks To Invest In Right Now: Valero Energy Corporation(VLO)

Valero Energy Corporation operates as an independent petroleum refining and marketing company. The company operates through three segments: Refining, Ethanol, and Retail. The Refining segment engages in refining, wholesale marketing, product supply and distribution, and transportation operations. It produces conventional gasoline, distillates, jet fuel, asphalt, petrochemicals, lubricants, and other refined products. This segment also offers conventional blendstock for oxygenate blending, reformulated gasoline blendstock for oxygenate blending, gasoline meeting the specifications of the California Air Resources Board (CARB), CARB diesel fuel, low-sulfur and ultra-low-sulfur diesel fuel. The Ethanol segment produces ethanol and distillers grains. The Retail segment sells transportation fuels at retail stores and unattended self-service cardlocks; convenience store merchandise and services in retail stores; and home heating oil to residential customers. Valero Energy Corpora tion markets its refined products through bulk and rack marketing network; and sells refined products through a network of approximately 6,800 retail and wholesale branded outlets under the Valero, Diamond Shamrock, Shamrock, Ultramar, Beacon, and Texaco names in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, Aruba, and Ireland. As of December 31, 2011, it owned 16 petroleum refineries with a combined throughput capacity of approximately 3.0 million barrels per day; and operated 10 ethanol plants with a combined nameplate production capacity of approximately 1.1 billion gallons per year. The company was formerly known as Valero Refining and Marketing Company and changed its name to Valero Energy Corporation in August 1997. Valero Energy Corporation was founded in 1955 and is based in San Antonio, Texas.

Advisors' Opinion:

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  U.S. imports will never go away
  At the peak of U.S. oil imports in 2005, we were importing from 86 different countries. The varying characteristics of all these different types of oil made American refineries extremely adept at processing crude. In particular, refineries in the Gulf of Mexico have become particularly good at refining heavy, sour crudes from Venezuela and Mexico. Valero (NYSE: VLO  ) , the largest independent Gulf Coast refiner with a capacity of 1.7 million barrels per day, sources over 53% of its Gulf Coast refining capacity from heavy, sour crudes.

• [By John Kell]

  Valero Energy Corp.(VLO) said its fourth-quarter profit rose 28% as the oil refiner got a boost from the spinoff of gas-station retailer CST Brands Inc.(CST) Results easily topped estimates.

• [By Tyler Crowe]

  This past quarter, Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX  ) , Valero (NYSE: VLO  ) , and Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN  ) have each expressed interest in a midstream MLP spin-off, and some expect to finish the process by the end of the year. In this video, Fool.com contributor Tyler Crowe looks at what these new midstream companies will mean to the MLP space and how investors should digest the news.