Give Oil a Miss, Focus on Natural Gas Stocks: WMB, AR, CRK

The world is pushing for cleaner-burning fuel to fight climate change. In this scenario, natural gas with lower carbon emissions beats oil. With fewer harmful pollutants and fewer environmental risks during transport, natural gas should be on the radar of energy investors. Also, analysts expect the pricing environment for natural gas to be favorable in the coming days, creating better prospects for Williams WMB, Antero Resources AR, and Comstock Resources Inc. CRK.

Natural Gas Price to Go North

In its latest short-term energy outlook, the U.S. Energy Information Administration (“EIA”) projects the natural gas spot price at $3.50 per million BTU for 2025, higher than $2.20 last year. In fact, next year, the commodity price will likely be $4.00 per million BTU, according to data from EIA. Increasing export volumes of liquefied natural gas (LNG) are primarily aiding the rising price of the commodity, reflecting growing demand for cleaner energy across the globe.

Oil Price to Get Softer

In its outlook, the EIA also projected a 2025 spot average price of West Texas Intermediate at $65.15 per barrel, down from $76.60 in 2024. EIA expects the price of the commodity to decline further to $51.26 per barrel next year. Rising oil inventories worldwide are primarily responsible for the softening of crude prices, as mentioned in the outlook.

Time to Keep an Eye on Natural Gas Explorers & Transporters?

The projected data of EIA clearly reflects that good days are ahead for natural gas explorers and producers, and companies involved in transporting and storing the commodity. On the other hand, upstream players, who primarily deal with oil, will likely take a hit from softening crude prices.

Thus, investors interested in the broader energy sector may keep an eye on companies generating revenues, mainly from upstream and midstream businesses associated with natural gas.

3 Stocks to Gain: WMB, AR, CRK

Williams is a leading midstream energy player and is well-positioned to capitalize on clean energy demand. This is because, with its pipeline network spanning 33,000 miles, WMB is responsible for the transportation of significant natural gas volumes produced in the United States. Thus, the company, currently carrying a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), generates stable cash flows for shareholders.

Antero Resources is primarily a natural gas explorer and producer, having a solid footprint in the prolific Appalachian play. AR, with a Zacks Rank of 3, has sufficient premium drilling inventories in the key resource, which can aid the upstream player to keep its drilling operations for more than two decades at the current pace. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Comstock Resources is also an upstream energy player with prime operations in the natural gas-rich Haynesville Shale play. In the third quarter of 2025, #3 Ranked CRK’s adjusted net income was $28 million, reversing from a loss of $48.5 million in the prior-year period.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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