Global stocks are getting mauled again today. Wild market swings are making stock investing a risky business. But Floyd Brown says little-known Master Limited Partnerships (MLPs) provide a steady dividend income and are extremely cheap right now. They have the tax benefits of a partnership, but the liquidity of a publicly traded stock. Floyd gives his three favourite MLP plays in the energy sector.

This from Investment U:

Most investors have never heard of, or purchased, shares of a master limited partnership (MLP). But, with many yielding more than 10% and prices at historically low levels, these bargains are getting hard to ignore.

Few investors know that master limited partnerships are publicly traded asset pools. They have the tax benefits of a partnership plus the liquidity of a publicly traded stock.

Because they invest in many different types of assets, most master limited partnerships have significant debts on the balance sheet and

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San Diego-based Royale Energy Inc. (Nasdaq: ROYL) focuses on the development, acquisition, exploration and production of natural gas and oil in California, Texas and the Rocky Mountains. The company today announced a natural gas find in California as part of its 2008-A drilling project.

The natural gas was discovered in its Andrus Island East well in the Sacramento Basin. The well was drilled to 7,000 feet and logged pay dirt in two natural gas-filled sands in the Nortinville formation at 3,350 feet and 3,800 feet, according to the press release.

The Starkey Channel had greater depth, and - though it posed more of a risk - the company continued with operations and the well was penetrated at 6,500 feet and encountered 26 feet of high porosity and permeable, natural-gas filled sands.

“The company had drilled four commercially productive wells to the shallower Nortinville formations on Andrus Island,” Donald Hosmer, Royale

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Whiting Petroleum Corporation (WLL), the independent oil and gas company that explores primarily in the Permian Basin, Rocky Mountains, Mid-Continent, Gulf Coast and Michigan, continues to be a Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stock even as crude and natural gas prices have pulled back from record highs.

On July 30, WLL reported second quarter earnings that missed on analysts' estimates by 5.47%, or 11 cents per share. However, it was a record quarter for the company, as net income spiked to $80.4 million, or $1.90 per share, from $26.5 million, or 72 cents per share, in the second quarter of 2007.

Production continues to increase year over year with first half production in 2008 totaling 7.76 MMBOE, or 42,660 BOE per day, compared with 7.26 MMBOE, or 40,090 BOE per day, in the first half of 2007.

The company is bullish about production going forward. It has

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Unit Corp. (UNT) recently delivered second-quarter earnings per share of $2.00, eclipsing the previous year’s $1.41 and topping the consensus estimate by a penny. During the past four consecutive quarters, the company’s earnings results were ahead of Street estimates three times and matched the other time.

Company Description

Unit Corporation is a diversified energy company engaged through its subsidiaries in the exploration for and production of oil and natural gas, the acquisition of producing oil and natural gas properties, the contract drilling of onshore oil and natural gas wells, and the gathering and processing of natural gas. Operations are principally located in the Mid-Continent region, including the Anadarko, Arkoma, Permian, Rocky Mountains and Gulf Coast Basins.

Solid Quarterly Results Included a New Record for UNT

The company recently delivered second-quarter earnings per share of $2.00, eclipsing the previous year’s $1.41 and topping the consensus estimate by a

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Williams Companies, Inc. (WMB) recently announced second-quarter adjusted earnings of 68 cents per share, eclipsing last year’s 43 cents and topping the consensus estimate by 3%. WMB’s earnings per share are expected to grow by 14% over the next 3 – 5 years, exceeding the industry average projection of 8%.

Company Description

Williams Companies, through its subsidiaries, finds, produces, gathers, processes and transports natural gas. The company’s operations are concentrated in the Pacific Northwest, Rocky Mountains, Gulf Coast, and Eastern Seaboard.

A Solid Second Quarter Reflects Strong Growth

The company recently posted second-quarter adjusted earnings of 68 cents per share, eclipsing last year’s 43 cents and topping the consensus estimate by 3%.

Williams noted that strong performances in the company's exploration & production and midstream businesses were the key drivers of the increase in the second-quarter and year-to-date results. The company cited higher net realized average natural gas prices and strong natural

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Ameriwest Energy is a domestic oil company with one very specific goal: to decrease foreign oil dependency by targeting pre-existing yet underdeveloped American oil reserves.

Vast stores of oil still remain all over our country’s western regions, left unrecovered after traditional extraction methods have run their course. More than half of the oil originally discovered in and around the Rocky Mountains, in particular, is still untouched to this day. The volume of these reserves is estimated to be 23 billion barrels, and Ameriwest intends to capitalize on this overlooked resource by using cutting-edge recovery techniques.

The company’s tertiary (oil recovery from pre-existing wells through the underground application of heat and chemicals) focus is currently vested in three main areas, defined as low-risk, historically-producing properties. Part of Ameriwest’s tertiary recovery program, the South Glenrock plot, contains just under 5 million barrels of recoverable crude, and the potential for about 2.5 million

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Getting into the oil and gas game is no small feat as many race to claim their share of the energy prize. Most companies have already staked their claim and are working to get oil out of the ground. Others are working to find wells and leases that have been left for dead. It may not be as easy as it was years ago, but for those companies that can stick at it, there’s plenty of profit left to be had.

Sun Cal Energy Inc., an exploration stage oil and gas company, works to find and extract oil and gas from new and existing oil and gas deposits. The company continues in its exploration stage with partial and 100% interests in several leases. In its own right, and through its subsidiary Sun Cal Energy Canada, Inc., the company controls several thousand acres of recognized oil and gas properties while maintaining over

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There is quite a bit to be said for hard work and perseverance. Put in the hours, days, months and years and something good should come of it. It doesn’t always work out, but in many cases it does. Just plain doing the work and having a solid business plan with a product demand means profit eventually. Find a company that has all three and an investor can feel fairly confident that profits will come.

Royale Energy Inc., an oil and gas exploration and development company, works to discover and exploit oil and gas opportunities in California, the Rocky Mountains and other currently producing regions. The company has been in operation for over twenty years and has been consistent in its ability to provide return on investment. The company owns part interest or owns outright; leases in the Sacramento and San Joaquin Basins-California, Utah, Texas, Louisiana, 54 natural gas wells in

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