A little over a year ago, we added three high-quality oil and gas producers to the model Portfolio. Our selection process targeted names with strong balance sheets, low production costs, a history of solid execution and franchise assets that can deliver output growth in a challenging environment. With oil prices a point of pain or profit for all upstream operators, names that can deliver on a volumetric growth story and take market share should outperform.

This strategy has played out to perfection thus far, with our positions in Anadarko Petroleum Corp (NYSE: APC), Concho Resources (NYSE: CXO) and EOG Resources (NYSE: EOG) up an average of 86.9 percent over the intervening months.

In light of this run-up and the risk of rising service costs, the Jan. 25 issue of Energy & Income Advisor suggested that readers consider taking a partial profit off the table, especially with hedge funds’ aggregate long positions in West Texas Intermediate futures reaching record levels and creating a significant liquidation risk.

Our Model Portfolios also contain four legacy upstream names that we held through the down-cycle: Noble Energy (NYSE: NBL), Occidental Petroleum Corp (NYSE: OXY), Eni (Milan: ENI, NYSE: E) and Total (Paris: FP, NYSE: TOT). Here are our latest thoughts on these positions.