Crude prices and oil stocks jumped Monday after OPEC+ members announced a surprise production cut, giving investors an opportunity to pare back their energy exposure. Indeed, the Club would’ve exited our Devon Energy (DVN) position Monday if not for restrictions that prevent us from trading the stock. Saudi Arabia and fellow members of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries said Sunday they are reducing oil output targets by a combined 1.16 million barrels per day. The planned reduction — set to go into effect in May and last through 2023 — is a “precautionary measure aimed at supporting the stability of the oil market,” Saudi Arabia’s energy ministry said in a statement. This latest production decrease is in addition to the 2-million-barrels-per-day cut implemented in November by OPEC and a group of partner producers led by Russia, together known as OPEC+. Russia also said Sunday its 500,000 barrel-per-day cut will extend through the end of the year, instead of lapsing in June. However, many analysts had expected Russia’s output reduction to be extended. Oil prices rose more than 6% on Monday, with U.S. crude benchmark West Texas Intermediate climbing above $80 per barrel for the first time since early March. In mid-March, WTI had fallen to its lowest levels since December 2021 on concerns that the U.S. banking crisis could hurt economic growth. Brent crude, the international benchmark, traded around $85 per barrel Monday, extending its rally off recent lows in the low $70s. Halliburton (HAL) shares surged more than 8% Monday, to over $34 each, as the best-performing Club energy stock. Devon and Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) climbed roughly 6% and 4%, respectively. Shares of Coterra Energy (CTRA), our energy stock most focused on natural gas, rose 2.3%. Some analysts raised their oil price targets in response to the production cut, including Goldman Sachs, which now sees Brent at $95 per barrel at year-end, up from $90. “This is a revenue-maximizing decision for OPEC under all the different scenarios. It was a voluntary cut,” Goldman’s commodities chief Jeff Currie said Monday on CNBC. “We have emphasized that OPEC’s pricing power is higher than it has ever been, and that they’re going to continue to exercise that power.” Citigroup analysts cautioned that “headwinds still lie ahead” for global oil markets, even if an initial spike in prices is “inevitable.” Eventually, the firm said in a note to clients, there could be a “realization that the market is a lot weaker than people think,” pointing to China’s slower-than-expected Covid reopening and diminished demand in many Western economies. Club take The Club views Monday’s oil move as a trimming opportunity because our read on the OPEC+ cut is similar to Citigroup — it’s a sign the demand side is tepid. In the short run, Jim Cramer said, oil prices could certainly climb a bit higher, possibly back to the $90-per-barrel level. “But at that point, you really have some…
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