Crude oil has finally broken out of its sleepy price range, and the usual suspects in the energy world (the supermajors) are getting a lot of attention.
Those usual suspects tend to be where investors stop looking, which is a shame, because the more interesting opportunities lie one rung below the megacaps
These are companies with smaller market caps, leaner cost structures, and direct leverage to either pricing, production growth, or service demand. Three of these energy companies stand out right now for very different reasons. 1. Permian Resources: An operator that keeps lowering its breakeven Permian Resources (NYSE: PR) has turned into one of the most efficient shale operators in the country.
In its first-quarter 2026 update, the company reported record oil production of roughly 192,300 barrels per day. It lowered drilling and completion costs to about $685 per lateral foot, a 6% reduction versus 2025’s average. Management raised the midpoint of full-year oil production guidance by 3,500 barrels per day while keeping its capital budget intact, a rarer kind of guidance update — more output without more spending.