Here is Why Murphy Oil (MUR) Fell This Week

The share price of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) fell by 6.87% between January 16 and January 23, 2026, putting it among the Energy Stocks that Lost the Most This Week.

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) is a global independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company.

Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) fell after the company announced on January 19 that it had encountered noncommercial quantities of hydrocarbons across multiple intervals in the first of its three-well exploration campaign offshore Côte d’Ivoire. The Civette-1X exploration well is in Block CI-502, in which Murphy holds a 90% working interest, while the remaining 10% belongs to the state-owned PETROCI.

Eric Hambly, President and CEO of Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR), stated:

“A key outcome at Civette is that we confirmed the presence of hydrocarbons in this frontier play – a meaningful success in early-stage exploration. While Civette did not meet commercial thresholds, the well provided insights that strengthen our subsurface understanding for the potential of the basin and inform the remaining prospectivity on the CI-502 Block.”

Moreover, on January 23, Morgan Stanley reduced its price target on Murphy Oil Corporation (NYSE:MUR) from $27 to $25 while maintaining an ‘Underweight’ rating. The analyst firm marked its 2026-27 oil price forecasts as of January 7 in conjunction with its Q4 preview for the E&Ps, oil majors, and Canadian oil producers. Morgan Stanley expects operational updates for Q4 to be ‘fairly clean’, but projects lighter cash flow from price realizations.

While we acknowledge the potential of MUR as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on the best short-term AI stock.

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Disclosure: None.