Royal Dutch Shell PLC (A) (RDS.A)

A Grandpa in the oil and gas business. They have a balance sheet that can weather storms. This is an opportunity for these big companies to Buy distressed companies, because the balance sheet is so strong. If the price of oil stays down for the next few quarters, the big fellows with the big balance sheets will get more active.

The .A shares are taxed differently in the UK. This has the best balance sheet of the majors. They underperformed because they were investing. There is upside on the dividend. The balance sheet is sustainable. You have to wait until oil prices raise before there will be upside in the stock price.

A big, global, energy company with good natural gas exposure. Natural gas prices are terrible in Canada but are much better in Europe, and it is a much more profitable business. A vertically integrated company so they are in the refining business as well, which has been a good place to be. Huge cash flow generation. A company this strong can take advantage of a very weak sector, because they will be a net acquirer of very cheap assets that other companies not financially sound will be forced to sell. 5.3% dividend yield.

85% of the carbon resources are owned by governments. Large oil and gas companies around the world are competing for the remaining 15%. You’d be better off with a Canadian dividend if it outside of a registered account. Prefers TOU-T

This is a good integrated company, but he prefers Total (TOT-N).

One of the best values of the majors. Reduced their forecast for production growth. They have a big bet on gas which is a fairly lengthy and expensive business. With the new management taking a sharp pencil to their reserves and production growth, the feeling now is that there will be some fairly meaningful production growth for the next 2-3 years.

A wall around $73, untill it breaks out of that probably best to stay away.

Generally has a very under levered balance sheet. Recently got new management. Thinks there is an opportunity for increased dividends. The recent compression of the BNWR bands (?), which worked very well for the European oil majors in the last 2 years, has compressed and that obviously has put a bit of a damper on earnings. Longer-term, they have a big project coming on line, which will be a big earner.

Not the way to take advantage of a European recovery. A major integrated, gas heavy oil company. Nat gas prices look to be weak for some time. This is a safe, large oil company with a safe dividend. Prefers others. GALP in Portugal would be a preference.

(Market Call Minute) One of the cheapest and best positioned of the integrated oil and gas companies with special strength in liquefied natural gas.

Best dividend paying stocks to buy at this time? A couple of the big oil companies like Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A-N) and Total (TOT-N) pay solid dividends and have very, very strong balance sheets and are in much better shape than most of the Canadian oil/gas sector. They have the opportunity for decent dividend growth. Trading at relatively cheaper valuations. 5.56% dividend. (See Past Picks.)

Incredibly well run company. These large oil companies are not expensive and they do pay great dividends. But it is hard to move the needle on production growth. This is what has hurt these companies a great deal. Have brought down their risk profile in many ways by getting out of non-core assets. If you want international exposure, you can put your money into other areas and do better.

Major league integrated oil company. Had a weak quarter and have been having a weak year. Stock has not performed well over the last couple of years. The big reason to own this would be for the dividend. They will continue to benefit from higher oil prices, but have a lot of natural gas exposure.

(Market call minute.) Great dividend. Oil is not going to go up very much but these are cheap stocks these days.

All of these companies are having trouble growing production but this one has a phenomenal track record in terms of generating free cash flow, paying out good dividends and being able to reinvest enough in their business to continue to replace production and growing slowly over time. This is one of the best in class. Powerfully strong balance sheet.