This post is one in a series in which more than 60 newsletter advisors share their Top Stock Picks for 2011. This special report is courtesy of TheStockAdvisors.com.

"Oil prices have been on a roller coaster ride during 2010, and as we look ahead to 2011, "black gold" looms as one of the potentially most lucrative markets for investors around the world," says John Nyaradi.

The editor of Wall Street Selector explains, "For bullish investors wanting to participate in this market, my top pick for 2011 is the United States Oil Fund (USO).

"Income-starved investors have flocked this year to master limited partnerships (MLPs); however these securities involve tax and bookkeeping hassles," notes fund specialist Mark Salzinger.

The editor of The Investor's ETF Report explains, "As a result, investing in MLP through an exchange-traded fund -- such as The Alerian MLP ETF (AMLP) -- has numerous advantages.

"Indeed, by holding a single ETF that aggregates income and returns, tax reporting is streamlined (typically on Form 1099, just like corporate dividends).

"There is a very interesting situation developing in the oil and gas industry," says Mike Turner. In the Trade of the Week advisory, he looks at the Oil & Gas Ultra ProShares (NYSE: DIG).

"Even though global economies are not rapidly recovering (although they do seem to be on a positive upslope), and even though there seems to be a bit more supply than demand in the energy markets, oil and gas stocks continue to move higher. What's behind this move?

"Oil has become the inverse proxy to the U.S. dollar. As the dollar weakens, the price of oil is moving higher. With the burgeoning debt piling up in the U.S., the dollar looks to be under pressure to move lower for the foreseeable future.

"Population growth will likely spur increased demand commodities," says ETF expert Doug Fabian. In Making Money Alert he looks at PowerShares DB Commodity (NYSE: DBC).

"World population growth trends suggest massive numbers of new global citizens on the way -- citizens that are going to require essentials such as food, clothing and shelter.

"For investors who want to ride this population wave, I offer you the PowerShares DB Commodity Index, an exchange-traded fund that seeks to track the performance of the Deutsche Bank Liquid Commodity index.

With the shift of power in the United States one of the hot topics is obviously America's dependence on oil and fuel consumption. During the coming administration we're likely to see a change in the energy field as new options are sought. It's likely that there will be some newcomers to the industry, but most likely the old standards will continue to pave the way for the future of energy.

I doubt that there will be any disruptive technologies to change the utilities in my lifetime. By investing in an exchange traded fund (ETF) consisting of a basket of utilities you will have a safe bet on energy. Utilities Select Sector SPDR (XLU) includes electric utilities, multi-utilities, independent power producers, energy traders and gas utilities.

You'll own companies such as Exelon Corp. (NYSE: EXC) a utility services holding company, Southern Company (NYSE: SO) who uses subsidiaries in the generation, transmission, distribution and sale of electricity, Dominion Resources, Inc (NYSE: D) a provider of electricity and natural gas to the eastern United States, and Duke Energy Corp. (NYSE: DUK) an energy company in the Americas. XLU also gives you a diversified basket of dividend paying stocks. Over the past year, XLU has paid about $1.20 which is currently a 4.3% yield on a $28 stock which down 33% this year (which means your dividend yield is higher). That's a lot better than 10 year T-Bills and the stocks in this index could appreciate as well.

To understand the United States Oil Fund (AMEX: USO), Ivan Martchev emphasizes the importance of the terms contango and backwardation.

The editor of Vital Resource Investor explains, "A contango is when the price of a commodity for future delivery is higher than the spot price, while backwardation is when the price for future delivery is lower." Here, he explains how the change from one to the other now makes the oil ETF a buy.

"The futures market now suggests that oil isn't as plentiful as it was at the same time last year when the sector began to weaken. For the first time in two-and-a-half years, the oil futures actually suggest that oil's in short supply.

"The market's gone from the notorious contango that made buying and holding the oil exchange traded funds (ETFs) much more painful than the oil stocks, to the current backwardation that looks like a smooth ski slope.

"The current backwardation status favors the buy-and-hold strategy for the oil ETF, the U.S. Oil Fund, which I first recommended as a special situation at the end of March.

Bloomberg is reporting that two oil "experts" are expecting $100 oil. One expert said $95 crude is "likely this year" and the other said we are "only a headline of significance" away from $100 oil. Interestingly, the article notes that a record number of contracts are outstanding with a bet on $100+ crude oil.

The situation in crude oil predictions makes is rather interesting but I wouldn't take these estimates as being very precise considering the fact that crude oil fundamentals merely fuel speculative buys or sells and the product doesn't really have a true value, because it doesn't generate cash flows.

That being said, I certainly wouldn't bet against crude oil or oil companies. The American people remain reliant on the precious commodity and I don't expect that to change anytime soon, even if alternative energy sources become popular.

Investors who believe that oil prices are going to rally have several options. In this situation I'd much rather purchase individual companies than the commodity simply because oil companies remain very cheap, even on oil prices as low at $50 per barrel. But investors do also have ETF choices such as iPath Crude Oil Total Return Index (NYSE: OIL) or United States Oil Fund (AMEX: USO) for the commodity itself, iShares Oil&Gas Exploration and Production (NYSE: IEO) for Oil&Gas companies, HOLDRS Oil Services Trust (AMEX: OIH) for services companies, or PowerShares Wilder Clean Energy Portfolio (AMEX: PBW) for investors who believe the United States is going to being making significant policy changes to strongly encourage alternative energy choices.

(Note: For ETF information I highly recommend ETF Connect)

While I can't tell you where oil is going or how it's going to move in the next few months, I think it's a pretty safe bet that the demand for crude oil is going to remain and American policymakers are going to be forced to start combating this somehow.