The need for oil drilling services will continue even if the price of oil declines, according to Richard Lehmann. Here, in his The ETF Investor, he looks at a favorite way for investors to play this trend.

"Oil prices have a triple or quadruple price boost associated with them. The first is supply/demand dynamics, the second is the weak dollar, the third is speculative fervor and the fourth inflation fears.

"A pundit said that last year it took 65 Euros to buy a barrel of oil and today it still takes 65 Euros to buy a barrel of oil. This illustrates the effect the weak dollar is having on U.S. prices and the international price of oil.

"Inflation protection used to be the province of gold, but now it seems oil is serving a similar function. We think the current oil bubble has not run its course.

"One of our past recommendations, the Oil Service Holders Trust (NYSE: OIH), was first suggested in February 2006 at a price of $101.50. We recommended it again in December 2007 at a price of $179.83.

"We're continuing to emphasize conventional energy, solar, shipping, agriculture, and commodities," says Harry Domash, who adds, "But one industry we've overlooked so far is coal."

In his Winning Investing, he explains, "This month, we're adding two coal industry picks. One, a short-term play to capture the action in hot coal mining stocks, and the other, a long-term dividend-paying investment."

"We've avoided coal primarily because environmentally speaking, coal is bad news. Coal is mostly used to generate electricity and to power steel plants. Crude oil prices are so high because supply can barely meet demand.

"Think about what would happen to oil prices if coal wasn't available. Due to increasing global demand, coal prices are moving up dramatically and it doesn't make sense for us to ignore that.

"For longer-term investors, we recommend Natural Resource Partners (NYSE: NRP), a master limited parternship. The MLP owns coal properties in the Appalachia, Illinois Basin, and the Western U.S. NRP leases its properties to mine operators.

Jim Farrish, founder of Money Strategies, is a leading expert on sector investing; his approach combines technical and fundamental analysis within the framework of investor psychology.

In the latest from his SectorExchange.com, he says, "This week's spotlight is the energy sector with a focus on the current trend, what the outlook is and what strategy to take looking forward." Here's his latest, along with some ETFs to play this trend.

"Over the last six weeks, the financial media has warned that 'consumption will decline as a result of the US recession.' But so far we have not seen any slowdown in consumption and may not based on recent studies.

"In fact, we have seen China and India absorb any lack of consumption by the US. The key here is not so much who is right and who is wrong, but how you manage your own positions within the energy sector.

For 25 years, Steven Halpern, editor of TheStockAdvisors.com, has surveyed the leading financial newsletter advisors asking for their favorite stocks for the coming year. This article is one of 100+ ideas in the Best Stocks for 2008 report.

"The commodity markets have been rising strongly in recent years, propelled by growing demand," says Mary Anne Aden, editor of The Aden Forecast.

"The ongoing boom in China and other emerging markets has been driving these markets higher and there's no sign this will end any time soon. This has consistently placed commodity-related stocks like energy, natural resource and precious metals into the top performing stock category. The same will likely apply in 2008.

"My favorite conservative idea for 2008 for investors to take advantage of the rise in precious metals is by buying the StreetTracks Gold Trust (NYSE: GLD), an exchange-traded fund. Since gold's rise still appears to be in its early phase, it should do well in the year ahead based on demand alone.

"The same is also true of energy. China's demand has been a primary factor driving the oil price higher. With the Olympics coming to China this Summer, this demand is unlikely to diminish. A good way to benefit is to buy the Energy Select SPDR (ASE: XLE), my favorite speculative ideas for 2008."