In this article, we are going to discuss the energy stocks that are gaining this week.
The S&P energy index surged by 0.53% between February 13 and February 20, against gains of 1.07% posted by the overall S&P 500 during the period.
The US energy industry received a significant boost on February 18 after Japan pledged to invest nearly $36 billion in oil, gas, and critical mineral projects in Texas, Ohio, and Georgia. The commitment marks the first batch of investments following a landmark trade deal between Washington and Tokyo last year, in which the Asian country pledged to invest $550 billion in American-based projects. In return, President Trump agreed to cut tariffs on most Japanese imports to 15%.
Most of the money from this first tranche will be used to build a natural gas facility in Ohio, which will generate 9.2 gigawatts of electricity every year. Japan will also finance a $2.1 billion deepwater crude oil export facility in the Gulf of America, in addition to investing around $600 million in a synthetic diamond grit facility in Georgia.
In other news, the US Supreme Court ruled to strike down the trade tariffs imposed by President Trump last year, which may ease costs for some oil producers and drillers. However, it is estimated that the broader energy flows would likely remain unchanged for now.
Our Methodology
To collect data for this article, we used several stock screeners to identify energy stocks that have surged the most between February 13 and February 20, 2026. The following are the Energy Stocks that Gained the Most This Week. The stocks are ranked according to their share price surge during this period.
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10. Kinetik Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNTK)
Share Price Gains Between Feb. 13 and Feb. 20: 9.68%
Kinetik Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNTK) is the premier midstream operator in the Delaware Basin, providing gathering, compression, processing, transportation, and water management services.
Kinetik Holdings Inc. (NYSE:KNTK) shot up on February 19 after a Financial Times report revealed that the company is considering a sale following an approach from the Occidental Petroleum-backed Western Midstream Partners. According to the report, Kinetik began plotting a sale process to test interest from both strategic and infrastructure buyers after WM approached in recent weeks. That said, the talks are still in their preliminary stages, and no formal acquisition offer has been made yet.
The Warren Buffett-backed Occidental owns about a third of Western Midstream as a legacy of its $57 billion acquisition of Anadarko in 2019. The strategic move comes as natural gas is widely considered among the top energy sources to power the ongoing AI boom, and pipeline operators will play a critical role in delivering this fuel to data centers.
9. SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM)
Share Price Gains Between Feb. 13 and Feb. 20: 10.25%
SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) is an independent energy company focused on the exploration, exploitation, development, acquisition, and production of natural gas and crude oil in the United States.
On February 18, SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) revealed that it had reached an agreement to sell its Galvan Ranch assets in South Texas. The $950 million deal comes as the energy operator looks to reduce debt and bolster its capital structure.
SM has decided to sell around 61,000 net acres and approximately 260 producing wells in its southern Maverick Basin position in Texas, along with related support facilities. These assets are expected to produce an average output of approximately 37-39 MBoe/d this year, and generate around $160 million in asset-level cash flows, excluding corporate burdens. As of the end of 2025, the net proved reserves associated with these assets were around 168 MMBoe. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2026.
Beth McDonald, President and CEO of SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM), commented:
“This timely asset sale largely accomplishes one of our key priorities of selling more than $1.0 billion in assets, which will enable us to reduce debt and strengthen our capital structure. We are excited about the impact this divestiture has on our balance sheet and look forward to sharing our updated return‑of‑capital program when we report earnings next week.”
SM Energy Company (NYSE:SM) further received a boost on February 18 when Roth Capital raised its price target on the stock from $23 to $24, while maintaining a ‘Buy’ rating on the shares. Similarly, on the following day, Stephens also increased its price target on SM from $48 to $49, while keeping its ‘Overweight’ rating on the shares. The firm views the aforementioned divestiture by the company as ‘positive’.
