For investors new to the energy space, one of the better outcomes of the 18-month-long downturn in the oil and gas industry has been the drop in pipeline operator stocks. Frequently structured as master limited partnerships (MLPs), these entities are as close to a legal monopoly as you’ll find in the public equity markets. There are only so many options, after all, for pulling crude oil and natural gas from the earth to distribution facilities and, eventually, into your gas tanks and homes.