When most investors look to profit from the North American energy boom, their thoughts immediately turn to the exploration and production companies and their huge output growth.

However, weaker oil prices mean that this paradigm has shifted; at this stage in the cycle, exploration and production companies will face the challenge of living within their cash flow.

Now more than ever, investors will focus on upstream operators’ balance sheets and rates of return, as opposed to huge production growth.

Here’s our review of the US-based oil and gas producers in our Model Portfolios. We have downgraded the majority of these names to a hold and will look to exit some of the riskier names as the opportunity arises.