There was a big acquisition announced today [subscription required] in the world of oil and gas, as Marathon Oil Corp (NYSE: MRO) is picking up Canada's Western Oil Sands Inc. for $5.56 billion, plus assumed debt of $650 million.

The deal is going to give Marathon Oil a huge presence in one of the world's largest crude oil reservoirs, the Athabasca Oil Sands Project. The deal, which is scheduled to finalize during the fourth quarter of this year, is going to give Marathon control over 300,000 gross acres of oil sands.

There are lots of hopes riding on the future of oil coming out of the Canadian oil sands. While the cost of getting that oil out of the ground is much higher than the cost of normal oil exploration, there are several reasons why it is being viewed as very profitable. The primary reason is the close proximity that the area has to America, which is, after all, the world's largest consumer. Being the closest supplier to the world's largest consumer of oil puts companies in Canada in a very enviable position.

In my recent posts, I have been reviewing the most popular sectors for the coming year, according the the newsletter advisors who participated in the Top Picks from 2007 report. In my last post, I highlighted stocks in healthcare, tech, and telecom. Today, I want to review the resource sectors -- energy and metals -- that remain very popular among advisors, despite being out-of-favor in recent trading.

First, let's look at the metals, where gold remains a popular choice. Sy Harding chose ASA Bermuda, a closed-end gold fund, Curtis Hesler selected Yamana, and Martin Weiss opted for Kinross.

Pamela Aden selected the bullion tracking exchange-traded fund, the streetTracks Gold Trust; Mark Leibovit also chose streettracks Gold. Meanwhile, Mary Anne Aden chose the iShares Silver Trust.

Outside of the precious metals, Tom Bishop chose copper play, Taseko Mines, while Neil Macneale selected steel stocks.

Equally as volatile as metals -- and currently out-of-favor -- has been energy. The energy sector has been high on the list of Top Picks for the past 4 years. This year, however, there is a noticeable shift.