In this segment, Motley Fool analysts Joel South and Taylor Muckerman discuss companies 5 thru 1 of their Top 20 energy companies to watch. To keep a closer eye on the energy and materials space, follow us on Twitter @TMFEnergy.

Because of the nature of its business, depreciation and capital expenditures don't facilitate the income and cash flow dilution of peers like Halliburton Company (HAL -0.47%) and Schlumberger (SLB -0.48%). Companies like this must depreciate the equipment they spend billions on to deliver to customers all around the world. In addition, large outflows of capital expenditures are necessary to continually update equipment and service capabilities.

Due to Core Laboratories NV (CLB) addressing the majority of its services in its labs strategically scattered around the globe, these holdups aren't necessarily on the same level. This has helped them far outpace a slew of equipment and services peers in terms of both free cash flow generation and returns on capital employed. For more, tune in below.

Core Labs was our Stock to Watch in 2013. We believe that could be the case in 2014 as well.