Within the Exploration and Production space, Goldman Sachs analyst Brian Singer recommends selling stocks where the valuation post recent rallies "appears at odds" with the company's competitive positioning. With that in mind, Singer downgraded both California Resources (CRC) and Chesapeake Energy (CHK) to Sell from Neutral. California Resources has a low decline rate and competitive supply cost but unfavorable debt cost that does not warrant the extent of its current valuation premium, says the analyst. For Chesapeake, Singer sees less favorable supply cost and corporate returns. The analyst also upgraded Murphy Oil (MUR) to Neutral from Sell. He believes the stock's current valuation appears more in line with its competitive positioning. Singer recommends buying "low cost oil suppliers" Encana (ECA), Parsley Energy (PE), Pioneer Natural (PXD) and EOG Resources (EOG) and Chevron (CVX).

Roth MKM analyst Leo Mariani lowered the firm's price target on Murphy Oil to $37 from $40 and keeps a Buy rating on the shares as part of a broader research note on the Energy sector. The firm is raising its 2025 WTI oil price forecast by 1% to $71, stating that while it sees modest risk to the downside for oil prices for the rest of the year due to likely supply increases from OPEC, it also believes that these increases are likely to be largely offset by the loss of barrels in sanctioned countries like Iran and Russia keeping oil markets close to balanced, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Strong demand for natural gas from much higher LNG exports and gas fired power generation and solid supply discipline from producers should be supportive of natural gas prices for the next few years, the firm states. Roth is adding that it prefers E&Ps with better balance sheets that can generate strong free cash flow, have a lower cost of production, can return capital to shareholders and modestly grow production over time.

During a remote speech to attendees at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, President Donald Trump said he plans to use tariffs to drive manufacturing back to the U.S. He also urged OPEC nations to lower oil prices, predicting this will decrease inflation and allow for lower interest rates. Publicly traded oil majors include BP (BP), Chevron (CVX), ConocoPhillips (COP), Exxon Mobil (XOM), Shell (SHEL) and TotalEnergies (TTE).

Raymond James analyst John Freeman raised the firm's price target on EOG Resources to $175 from $167 and keeps a Strong Buy rating on the shares. The fourth quarter was "forgettable" from a stock performance perspective, but has set the Exploration and Production group up nicely going into the New Year, the analyst tells investors in a research note. The firm expects largely in-line results from its coverage, and notes that efficiency gains continued at a pace that almost nobody anticipated, production growth is largely not the goal, and looks like a by-product of these efficiency gains, and says that it expects acquisitions to continue.

Morgan Stanley analyst Devin McDermott downgraded Murphy Oil to Underweight from Equal Weight with a $37 price target. The firm expects year-ahead production guidance to come in below consensus alongside Q4 results and while Murphy's recent exploration success in Vietnam offers a source of longer-term upside, near-term free cash flow is limited by spending on longer-cycle projects and further exploration, the analyst tells investors.