3 Oil Stocks to Watch as Storylines Simmer

Oil stocks are in focus this week, as crude prices wrangle with a slew of geopolitical developments. In the Black Sea, the Caspian Pipeline Consortium halted exports after a Ukraine drone attack. U.S.-Venezuela tensions are simmering and could impact about supply, while last month OPEC+ agreed to leave oil output levels unchanged for the first quarter of 2026. Through it all, January-dated crude was last seen up 1% at $59.11. 

President Donald Trump's envoy Steve Witkoff will head to Moscow and Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskyy is on his way to Paris, after a weekend of productive meetings meant to end the Russian-Ukraine conflict. So with all these storylines swirling, where do oil stocks stand?

Exxon Mobil Corp (NYSE:XOM) stock is up 0.6% to trade at $116.70, after HSBC hiked its price target to $126 from $121. Despite only sporting an 8.6% year-to-date lead, XOM has carved a channel of higher highs since testing $100 back in April.

Chevron Corp (NYSE:CVX) stock is 1.1% higher to trade at $152.80 today. The shares have traded between $146 and $161 since July, but are still holding their year-to-date breakeven level.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) stock is up 1.8% to trade at $90.32, but is still down 9% in 2025. A confluence of moving averages sit overhead, putting a lid on the stock's recent consolidation below $90. 

Despite middling or negative returns from all three stocks, the brokerage bunch is overwhelmingly bullish on XOM, CVX, and COP. Of the 77 brokerage positions entered across all three equities, only three are a "sell" rating, with 24 "holds" and the rest a "buy" or better. If analysts don't like the outcome of these geopolitical irons in the fire, downgrades could weigh going forward.