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3 Permian Stocks to Gain as Oil Price is Quite Healthy

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The ongoing rise in oil prices is fueling a bullish trend, encouraging more exploration and production activities. Companies in the upstream sector are likely to expand their operations in lucrative shale reserves, leading to a higher number of drilling rigs. This increase in drilling activity is anticipated to boost production, providing advantages for businesses engaged in exploration and production.  

Oil Price Still High

West Texas Intermediate crude price is trading at more than $75 per barrel, which is highly favorable for exploration and production activities. In its short-term energy outlook, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (“EIA”) projected the average spot price of West Texas Intermediate crude at $82.15 per barrel this year, an extremely favorable price for upstream operations.

Permian Oil Production to Rise

In March, total oil production from shale resources in the United States will likely increase by 20,000 barrels per day to 9,716 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/D), per EIA. The shale resources comprise Anadarko, Appalachia, Bakken, Eagle Ford, Haynesville, Niobrara and Permian.

Of all the resources, Permian will witness the highest increase in daily oil production this month, according to the EIA’s drilling productivity report. In the Permian, the EIA projects oil production to rise by 14,000 barrels per day to 6,085 MBbls/D this month.

Permian Explorers in the Spotlight

It has been apparent that a favorable crude pricing scenario is backing higher production volumes. Improving Permian production amid healthy oil prices raised the incentive to keep an eye on companies like Exxon Mobil Corporation (XOM - Free Report) , Chevron Corporation (CVX - Free Report) and Diamondback Energy, Inc. (FANG - Free Report) , operating in the most prolific basin. All the stocks carry a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

3 Stocks to Gain

ExxonMobil and Chevron have solid upstream businesses. In the Permian Basin, ExxonMobil has a solid pipeline of profitable projects. Chevron, too, has a strong foothold in the Permian, where a significant portion of the energy major’s acreage has minimum royalty payments.

To strengthen its presence in the Permian, ExxonMobil entered into a staggering $59.5 billion all-stock deal to buy Pioneer Natural Resources . This is because Pioneer Natural is one of the foremost oil producers operating in the Permian Basin. With the deal closure expected in the first half of 2024, Permian production of the integrated energy major will more than double to 1.3 million barrels of oil equivalent per day (MMBoE/D). Furthermore, ExxonMobil projected that this production figure will rise to an impressive 2 MMBoE/D by 2027.

Diamondback Energy, a leading pure-play Permian operator, has reported ongoing enhancements in the average productivity per well in the Midland Basin. Thus, the exploration and production company is likely to continue witnessing increased production volumes. FANG also has an investment-grade balance sheet.


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