"Although land-based drillers are very out of favor right now, Bronco Drilling is on solid ground," says Jack Adamo's Insiders Plus of Bronco Drilling Company Inc. (NASDAQ: BRNC). The advisor explains, "There are two reasons for the land drilling sector being out of favor.

"First, the biggest finds are now under the sea. Particularly in the U.S., most of the big, accessible deposits on land are played out. Still, there are plenty of pockets of economically viable deposits to be found, especially in natural gas.

"The second reason these drillers are out of favor now is that natural gas prices are low, and some producers, mostly the smaller ones, are holding off on new drilling until pricing firms. Day rates have fallen 12% year-to-date.

"As winter approaches, I expect utilization rates to rise, and day rates to follow. If we have a bad hurricane or two in the Gulf of Mexico, things could really kick into high gear, as producers look inland while submersible platforms are repaired.

What are the best energy investments for long-term investors? To answer this question, I surveyed 20 of the nation's leading financial newsletter advisors to find their current favorite ideas in the energy sector.

Interestingly, the advisors see the best opportunities in areas well beyond traditional oil firms; indeed, no one included in this report chose a major integrated oil company. Rather, the advisors have shown a preference for various oil services sectors, non-oil energy sources, and developing alternative technologies.

Some focus on areas such as deep-sea operations with Diamond Offshore Drilling Inc. (NYSE: DO), Transocean Inc. (NYSE: RIG) and Oceaneering International (NYSE: OII), while others look toward oil shippers such as Nordic American Tanker Shipping (NYSE: NAT) and refiners such as Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO).

Others chose companies that make specific products needed by the oil & gas industries such as NATCO Group Inc. (NYSE: NTG), which makes a wide range of oil & gas processing systems; Dresser-Rand Group Inc. (NYSE: DRC), a maker of control systems; Gardner Denver Inc. (NYSE: GDI), which makes compressor and fluid transfer systems; Tenaris (NYSE: TS), a maker of pipes and tublar products and Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB), the largest and most diversified of the oil services companies.