A drop in oil prices prompted the fund to wade into energy stocks earlier this year, an area it wisely avoided in 2008, and it now has positions in Total SA and Royal Dutch Shell. When prices are low, oil companies have little incentive to expand production, and the tighter supplies that result should support the price of the commodity over the long term, reasons Samra. He began buying Total and Royal Dutch Shell during the first quarter of the year when oil dropped to $40 a barrel, well below an estimated production cost of $60 to $80 a barrel.
