4. Chord Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:CHRD)
Short % of Float: 8.20%
Market Cap: $7.84 Billion
Chord Energy Corporation (NASDAQ:CHRD) engages in the exploration and production of crude oil, natural gas liquids, and natural gas. The company’s competitive advantage comes primarily from its acreage position, operational efficiency, infrastructure access, and scale.
Chord Energy’s production exceeded the high end of management’s guidance in Q3 2026, prompting the company to raise its full-year 2026 production guidance midpoint from 161,000 to 162,500 barrels per day. This was made possible by the company’s longer laterals, improved completion efficiency, better productivity from existing wells, and AI-assisted optimization. The potential result is lower unit costs, better returns on invested capital, and greater resilience when oil prices normalize.
Chord also continues to focus on operational efficiency, with the company expecting annualized run-rate savings to reach $225 million. This is more than double the amount expected in the initial 2025 update, with the recent increase driven by base production optimization and further marketing improvements. The company also recently announced the divestiture of non-operated Marcellus assets for $550 million, allowing it to concentrate on its core business.
That said, despite the improvements in operational efficiency, Chord Energy remains heavily exposed to commodity prices. A potential decline in global crude prices would significantly hurt the company’s revenue and earnings. This was already demonstrated in the third quarter, when Chord’s average realized crude oil sales price before derivative settlements declined by $8.19 per barrel sequentially to $85.80. This reduced the firm’s quarterly crude oil revenue by around $109 million, although higher production partially offset the impact.
Check out the 10 Energy and Power Stocks Drawing Strong Reactions From Jim Cramer.
3. Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG)
Short % of Float: 9.30%
Market Cap: $33.31 Billion
Venture Global, Inc. (NYSE:VG) is a leading US producer and exporter of LNG. The company continues to take advantage of the supply disruptions in the Middle East and delivered its largest-ever quarterly EBITDA of $2.6 billion in its Q3 2026 report on November 10. Revenue also surged by around 43% compared to last year. LNG sales volumes grew by 25% YoY, primarily due to the increased production from Plaquemines as commissioning progressed.
For the first nine months of 2026, Venture Global’s revenue increased by 49%, while adjusted EBITDA surged by 51% YoY. This prompted the company to raise its 2026 EBITDA guidance to $10 billion to $10.3 billion from $8.7 billion to $9.1 billion previously, based on its current market outlook for the remainder of the year. The LNG operator expects the demand from Asian buyers to rise amid continuing geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East.
Venture Global is also looking to use its energy infrastructure expertise to tap booming demand from the AI data centers. The company is planning to bring on roughly 11.5 GW of data center compute capacity over roughly the next decade through modular “power islands”, and has already signed framework agreements with equipment suppliers. It expects its first compute capacity to come online in late 2028 and projects its data center-related power capacity to reach around 5 GW by the end of 2031.
That said, LNG remains the core business for Venture Global and its earnings remain sensitive to prices of the super-chilled fuel. The company itself estimated in May that even a $1 per MMBtu change in fixed liquefaction fees could impact its full-year 2026 EBITDA by $300 million – $350 million.
VG has also stated that its emphasis is going to shift more to much shorter contracts amid continuing geopolitical uncertainty in the Middle East. While these short-term agreements are favorable when LNG prices are high, they could increase the company’s exposure to unfavorable market conditions if prices weaken.
Venture Global’s legal troubles are also a cause for concern. The company continues to face arbitration claims from some Calcasieu Pass customers, who allege it withheld contracted cargoes to capitalize on higher spot prices. The LNG operator has settled or prevailed in several cases and lost one proceeding. However, there are two more customers who are seeking damages exceeding $2.4 billion, with VG disputing the claims.
Click HERE for our full analysis of Venture Global, Inc..
2. Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO)
Short % of Float: 9.79%
Market Cap: $60.54 Billion
Imperial Oil Limited (NYSEAMERICAN:IMO) is one of the largest integrated oil companies in Canada. The integrated model gives it some protection against fluctuations in individual commodity markets.
Another important aspect of Imperial Oil is that it is 69.6% owned by ExxonMobil, giving it access to the technological expertise, operational experience, research capabilities, and resources of one of the largest integrated energy companies in the world.
Imperial Oil’s ownership of large Canadian oil sands assets also provides a significant competitive advantage. Unlike conventional oil wells, oil sands mining operations can sustain production for extended periods once developed. The company has an established resource base and infrastructure that would be extremely expensive and time-consuming for a competitor to replicate.
Imperial Oil has benefited from the favorable commodity environment, reporting record net income in Q3 2026. The company’s downstream earnings surged to a record C$1.55 billion, compared to C$444 million in the year-ago period, driven by the exceptionally high refining margins amid the disruptions in the Middle East. However, it is important to keep in mind that these margins are cyclical in nature and can contract significantly when global supplies return to normal. Investors should therefore be careful about extrapolating Q3’s record profitability into future quarters.
CHECK OUT: 10 Best Oil and Gas Stocks to Buy for the Next Decade
1. PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF)
Short % of Float: 10.54%
Market Cap: $8.42 Billion
As one of the largest independent petroleum refiners in the United States, PBF Energy Inc. (NYSE:PBF) has benefited from the exceptionally favorable market environment. The stock soared to an all-time high in October, driven by an unusually sharp surge in global refining margins as the ongoing disruptions have significantly reduced the global refining capacity and tightened supplies of gasoline, diesel, and jet fuel.
PBF has capitalized on the opportunity to bolster its balance sheet, reducing its net debt by more than $2 billion this year. The company ended Q3 2026 with about $2.5 billion in cash against $2.1 billion in total debt, giving it a net cash position of $426 million. This is particularly important for a cyclical refiner, as the stronger balance sheet will give it greater capacity to withstand unfavorable market conditions when crack spreads normalize.
That said, the biggest risk to PBF’s investment thesis is that the exceptional refining margins are unlikely to be permanent, and crack spreads could normalize quickly if the global refined product supplies recover. This risk is particularly important for PBF as it has enjoyed an enormous rally and significantly outperformed the wider market this year. As of the writing of this piece, PBF has surged by almost 149% since the beginning of 2026, so even a modest decline in refining margins could trigger a significant valuation correction.
Third Avenue Management, an investment management company, stated the following regarding PBF Energy Inc. in its Q3 2026 investor letter:
“During the third quarter, Fund performance benefited from diversified sources of return. Leading contributors to performance included petroleum refiner PBF Energy Inc.. The single largest contributor to Fund performance for the quarter was PBF Energy. At the time of the Fund’s initial investment, roughly two years ago, we held the view that PBF’s assets, and U.S. refinery assets in general, were at that time earning well below normalized margins and returns. We believed that, given the absolutely critical nature of the assets and a wave of U.S. refining capacity closures in recent years, there was a high probability that the economics of that industry would eventually rise to a level at which reinvestment to maintain the production capacity of the remaining refinery assets could be economically justified…” (Click here to read the full text)
While we acknowledge the risk and potential of PBF as an investment, we believe certain AI infrastructure stocks offer far stronger long-term potential at a much more attractive entry point. If you are looking for an AI stock more promising than PBF that operates as a critical AI tollbooth and stands as the most important company in the world, check out our report about this must-own AI stock.
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