West Texas Intermediate (“WTI”) crude is trading at more than $85 per barrel. The high price is being backed by ongoing tensions in the Middle East. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (“EIA”) in its latest short-term energy outlook projected WTI at $88.32 per barrel this year, higher than $65.40 last year. A highly favorable pricing environment for the commodity is likely to continue supporting BP plc's BP exploration and production activities, which generate a significant proportion of its earnings.
The British energy major’s production outlook seems bright, thanks to major discoveries. On its latest earnings call, BP mentioned that since the beginning of 2025, it has made 14 discoveries. BP said Bumerangue appears to be a very large oil discovery, estimated at around 8 billion barrels in place, though further appraisal work is needed to determine how much can actually be extracted and commercialized.
Given the prevailing high crude pricing environment and key discoveries, the British energy giant’s overall upstream business outlook, both in the near and long terms, seems highly encouraging.
Will XOM & COP Also Gain From High Oil Prices?
Like BP, Exxon Mobil Corporation XOM and ConocoPhillips COP will benefit from the ongoing strength in oil prices. Let’s delve a little deeper.
With COP generating a significant proportion of revenues from crude oil, the high price of the commodity is extremely favorable for the leading oil and gas exploration and production company, much like other energy giants such as XOM and BP.
The upstream energy giant also has low-cost drilling opportunities across Permian, Eagle Ford and Bakken that could be successfully developed over two decades. Thus, the outlook for ConocoPhillips’ upstream operations looks highly profitable.
To provide a glimpse of ExxonMobil’s upstream assets, the company has a massive footprint in the Permian, the most prolific oil and gas play in the United States, and offshore Guyana. Hence, XOM is also well-positioned to capitalize on the ongoing high commodity prices.
BP’s Price Performance, Valuation & Estimates
Shares of BP have gained 38.9% over the past year, surpassing the industry’s 35.4% growth.
From a valuation standpoint, BP trades at a trailing 12-month enterprise value to EBITDA (EV/EBITDA) of 3.20X. This is below the broader industry average of 6.40X.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for BP’s 2026 earnings has seen upward revisions over the past 30 days.
BP currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).