Goldman Just Raised Its Brent Forecast to $90: 5 Energy Stocks Built for Higher Oil

Quick Read

• Every name on this stock list generates more cash with Brent anchored near Goldman’s $90 Q4 forecast than at the $61.35 close that ended 2025.

• The prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz from the US-Iran conflict is driving extreme inventory draws and pushing Brent crude toward $90 per barrel, rewarding oil majors with stronger refining margins and E&P operators with direct earnings leverage while services companies benefit from deferred upstream capex spending.

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Goldman Sachs raised its Q4 2026 Brent crude forecast to $90 per barrel on April 27, 2026, up from a prior $80 forecast, citing extreme inventory draws from the prolonged closure of the Strait of Hormuz tied to the ongoing US-Iran conflict. Brent is already running hot. The benchmark traded above $108 per barrel on April 27 after Iran peace talks stalled, and the benchmark hit a 2026 high of $138.21 on April 7 before settling at $103.4 on April 20.

The supply shock dominates. Below are five U.S.-listed energy stocks structured for sustained higher oil, ranked by upside directness and capital return durability for income investors.

1. BP (NYSE: BP)

BP (NYSE:BP) has been the top-performing oil supermajor since the start of the conflict, validated by Q1 2026 results released today. Underlying replacement cost profit hit $3.20 billion versus $1.38 billion a year earlier, with refining and trading underlying profit surging to $2.19 billion from $677 million. Net income reached $3.84 billion on revenue of $52.26 billion, and EPS came in at $1.24. New CEO Meg O’Neill suspended buybacks to accelerate deleveraging toward a $14–$18 billion net debt target by year-end 2027, with net debt currently $25.31 billion. The stock is up nearly 30% year to date, supported by a 4.26% dividend yield and a forward P/E of 8. Reddit sentiment registered a bullish 72 score on BP “beats profit expectations as Iran war boosts fuel prices.”

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2. ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP)

ConocoPhillips (NYSE:COP) reports Q1 2026 earnings on Thursday, April 30, 2026, before market open. The pure-play E&P offers the cleanest leverage to crude. FY 2025 revenue reached $61.55 billion with EPS of $6.16, even as realized price fell to $42.46/BOE in Q4. The Marathon Oil integration is delivering more than $1 billion of run-rate synergies, and management targets $7 billion of incremental free cash flow by 2029 while returning 45% of CFO to shareholders. CEO Ryan Lance pointed to “the deepest and most capital-efficient Lower 48 inventory.” The dividend was lifted to 84 cents per share, and analysts carry an average target of $139.08 versus a forward P/E of 13.

3. Occidental Petroleum (NYSE: OXY)

Occidental Petroleum (NYSE:OXY) is the highest-beta name. Berkshire Hathaway holds roughly $10.89 billion in OXY as of late 2025, anchoring the Permian thesis. The OxyChem sale to Berkshire closed January 2, 2026, with proceeds used to cut principal debt by $5.8 billion to $15.0 billion. Q4 2025 production reached 1,481 Mboed at a realized crude price of $59.22/barrel, and the dividend was raised 8% to 26 cents quarterly, doubling over four years. CEO Vicki Hollub flagged focus on “resilient free cash flow and maintaining flexibility in our capital and development programs”. The stock is up more than 38% year to date, and analysts target $63.83 on a forward P/E of 13.

4. SLB (NYSE: SLB)

SLB (NYSE:SLB) is the international and offshore play. With US drillers slow to ramp despite triple-digit Brent, SLB’s geographic mix matters: Q1 2026 Middle East & Asia revenue of $2.69 billion and Europe & Africa of $2.26 billion dwarfs North America’s $2.17 billion. Q1 EPS was 52 cents on revenue of $8.72 billion, and ChampionX added $838 million in revenue. CEO Olivier Le Peuch expects a broad-based upstream recovery in 2027 and 2028, supported by deepwater long-cycle activity. Management committed to returning more than $4 billion to shareholders in 2026. Shares have climbed 33.30% year to date, and analyst consensus sits at $58.90.

5. Halliburton (NYSE: HAL)

Halliburton (NYSE:HAL) closes the list as the North America-levered services name. Q1 2026 EPS of 55 cents beat the 49.75-cent estimate by 11%, with operating income up 58% year over year to $679 million. CEO Jeff Miller said HAL is seeing “clear signs that we are in the early innings of a recovery” in North America. Latin America revenue grew 22% and EMEA grew 11%, while the company announced the Sekal acquisition to deepen its automated drilling stack. HAL returned 85% of FCF to shareholders in 2025. The stock has gained 37.16% year to date and trades at a forward P/E of 16 against an analyst target of $41.64.

Conclusion

Every name here generates more cash with Brent anchored near Goldman’s $90 Q4 forecast than at the $61.35 close that ended 2025. BP captures refining and trading dislocations from Hormuz. COP and OXY translate barrels directly into dividends and buybacks. SLB and HAL ride the capex echo, with HAL early-cycle in North America and SLB tied to international long-cycle work. The principal uncertainty is duration. A diplomatic breakthrough in the US-Iran standoff would compress the geopolitical premium quickly, while a deeper supply shock could push realized prices well above Goldman’s base case. Investors should focus on balance sheet trajectory, dividend coverage, and working-capital release pace as earnings prints land.

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