A long-awaited rally in crude oil prices has helped the Club’s three oil-and-gas companies become some of our top-performing stocks over the past month. And with new signs the commodity could continue to rally this year, we’re sitting tight on our energy holdings. Brent crude, the global oil benchmark, and West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. oil standard, have both climbed by more than 10% since late June. Brent was up roughly 1% Thursday, at nearly $80 a barrel. WTI was trading up 0.72%, at more than $83 a barrel. Energy stocks linked to crude — including Club names Halliburton (HAL), Coterra Energy (CTRA) and Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) — have risen on oil’s fortunes. Shares of Halliburton have climbed roughly 18%, while Coterra and Pioneer have advanced about 12% and 10%, respectively, since crude’s most-recent bottom in late June. Troubled pharmaceutical firm Bausch Health (BHC) has been the top-performing Club stock during that same stretch, advancing nearly 28%. “This was a move that many have expected to occur all year,” TD Cowen energy analyst Jason Gabelman said of crude’s recent rise. “A lot of investors, I think, have been … somewhat disappointed on oil being rangebound for the past few months in the low-to-mid $70s,” Gabelman told CNBC. Among the biggest drivers of the momentum has been signs that previously pledged production cuts from Saudi Arabia and Russia are finally taking hold, analysts widely said, helping address concerns investors had about excessive supply in the market. Russian production, in particular, has exceeded expectations throughout the year. But last week, nationwide crude shipments in Russia stood at 2.73 million barrels a day, down 1.48 million barrels per day from their late-April peak, according to data compiled by Bloomberg . Economic data also suggests oil demand is proving more resilient than investors initially expected, said Truist’s Neal Dingmann. “Not to say we’re certainly out of the woods on inflation or a recession,” Dingmann told CNBC, “but the picture is much better for some type of growth, even very minimal.” Mizuho analyst Nitin Kumar – who covers Coterra and Pioneer and has a buy rating on both stocks – said he believes the setup for crude prices remains solid throughout the second half of 2023. While the potential for a demand-destroying recession remains a big wildcard, Kumar said there’s a lot to be encouraged by on the supply side. The Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and its oil-producing allies, collectively known as OPEC+, has shown discipline on production and been willing to take action designed to shore up prices , Kumar said, even if the market has, at times, shrugged off such decisions . Saudi Arabia is the de-facto head of the OPEC cartel and Russia is the group’s largest partner producer. Saudi Arabia, Russia and the U.S. are the world’s three-largest oil producers. U.S. producers also have shown restraint, Kumar told CNBC, with domestic crude…
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