The world's top 100 oil and gas companies banked more than $30m every hour in unearned profit in the first month of the US-Israeli war in Iran, with Saudi Aramco, Gazprom, and ExxonMobil among the biggest beneficiaries.
The drone strikes and infrastructure damage at Qatar's massive Ras Laffan complex triggered force majeure declarations and slashed roughly 15% to 20% of global supply overnight, leading to a spike in spot prices in Asia and Europe.
Instead of trying to predict whiplashing oil prices, consider investing in energy ETFs like the Invesco WilderHill Clean Energy ETF and First Trust North American Energy Infrastructure. These ETFs provide exposure to sectors such as pipelines and shipping, independent of oil price fluctuations.
The Board believes Texas legislators, judges, and juries who might make decisions that impact Exxon Mobil are generally more familiar with our business and operations. A new Texas law makes it harder for shareholders to sue companies by requiring a minimum stock ownership to file lawsuits, providing legal protection that serves as the real draw for redomiciliation.
The symbiotic relationship between Diamondback and Viper is highlighted during times like these where Diamondback continues to focus its development on wells where Viper owns high royalty interests. That structural advantage doesn't erode with oil prices.
U.S. shale producer Devon Energy will acquire Coterra Energy for nearly $26 billion in a combination that creates a domestic oil and gas juggernaut trailing only household names Exxon Mobil, Chevron, and ConocoPhillips in sheer production volumes, the companies announced Feb. 2. After a couple of years of rapid consolidation in the energy sector, dealmaking slowed down dramatically last year as oil prices fell when OPEC ramped up its output and the Trump administration implemented a series of tariffs worldwide.
Citi's upgrade reflects a broader geopolitical reality reshaping global energy markets. The Iran war is accelerating the flight of European and Asian buyers toward secure, long-term U.S. LNG supply contracts.
Vistra's core business is performing at a level that justifies management's confidence. The record Adjusted EBITDA, locked-in long-term power purchase agreements with hyperscale technology buyers, and a ~30% reduction in share count since November 2021 through roughly $5.9 billion in buybacks paint a picture of a management team allocating capital with conviction.
Wells Fargo's revised thesis centers on Vietnam production sharing contract modeling refined through recent webinar insights, reinforcing long-term offshore value even as the firm acknowledges the opportunity remains long dated and valuation stays anchored to near-term cash flow.
USAC closed 2025 with a record adjusted EBITDA of $613.8 million and a distributable cash flow of $385.7 million, indicating strong financial performance despite high debt levels.
We're also funding incremental shareholder returns for free cash flow after distributions, rather than leverage buybacks. And so it's just a bit more of a conservative approach that we're following that is in line with our profile and Chevron's target of 200,000 barrels of oil per day plateau production in the Bakken.
Chevron delivered record worldwide production of 4,045 MBOED in 2025, up 12% year-over-year, giving it more barrels to sell into a recovering price environment. Operating cash flow hit $33.9 billion for the full year, covering the $12.8 billion dividend payout by roughly 2.7 times, a cushion that makes a dividend cut look unlikely even in a moderate oil price downturn.
The death of Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei on February 28, 2026, per NPR reporting, sent immediate shockwaves through energy markets. WTI crude climbed from $61.60 on February 2 to $71.13 by March 2, and prediction markets now assign 97% probability to crude reaching $75 by end of March, with 81% confidence in a move to $80.
LBRT delivered a 148% EPS surprise in Q4 2025, posting $0.08 per share against a consensus estimate of -$0.17. PTEN beat by 83% on the same quarter, reporting a loss of -$0.02 versus the -$0.12 consensus. These aren't rounding errors. They signal that the street's models were built for a worse reality than the one these companies are actually living in.
Unlike funds that hold integrated giants with refining and chemical businesses to cushion oil price swings, XOP holds pure exploration and production companies whose entire revenue stream rises and falls with the commodity price. Its equal-weight structure amplifies this further, giving the same portfolio weight to smaller, more volatile E&P names as it does to large-caps like ConocoPhillips or Occidental Petroleum.
The company's record production jumped 12% year-over-year, driven by the Hess acquisition, which added 261 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day. CEO Mike Wirth called it a "significant achievement...integrated Hess, started-up major projects, delivered record production." Chevron's integrated model spans upstream production, refining, chemicals, and emerging energy ventures, including lithium and hydrogen projects. The company returned $12.1 billion in share buybacks for the year and raised its dividend 4% to $1.78 per share.
Energy Transfer ( NYSE: ET) delivered a mixed fourth quarter 2025 performance, posting $25.32 billion in revenue while net income declined to $928 million, down from $1.08 billion year-over-year. The midstream giant reported $0.25 EPS and adjusted EBITDA of $4.18 billion, representing an 8% increase from the prior year quarter. Despite the earnings decline, Energy Transfer achieved multiple operational records.