Oil prices are generally volatile and affected by geopolitical conflicts, supply shocks, and demand cycles, but they tend to rise over the long term. Over the past ten years, the prices of West Texas Intermediate (WTI) and Brent crude oil have risen 206% and 85%, respectively.
Over the next ten years, the International Energy Agency (IEA) expects global electricity consumption to increase by up to 40% to meet surging energy demand from the cloud infrastructure, data center, AI, electric vehicle (EV), and industrial markets. Some of that growth will be driven by renewable energy, but many industries will continue to use fossil fuels.
Image source: Getty Images.
While energy stocks might be unpredictable short-term investments, investors should still buy a few top plays as long-term holdings. Let's take a closer look at three of those resilient energy stocks: Chevron (CVX 3.31%), Enbridge (ENB 1.25%), and Vistra (VST +3.58%).
The oil major: Chevron
Chevron, one of the world's largest integrated energy companies, has upstream, downstream, and chemical production operations. It operates in 180 countries, but it gets most of its oil and natural gas from the U.S., Kazakhstan, and Australia. That makes it less exposed to the Middle East conflict than its industry peers that are heavily dependent on the Gulf states.
NYSE: CVX
Key Data Points
Chevron's scale and diversification enable it to sustain steady growth and maintain its nearly four-decade streak of annual dividend hikes. Over the next decade, it plans to expand its main oil fields in the Permian Basin, ramp up its oil production in Guyana (one of the world's most oil-rich regions), bring more deepwater projects online in the Gulf of Mexico, and increase its natural gas production in Australia. It expects to increase its oil and gas production by 2%-3% annually through 2030. It's also reducing its structural costs as it expands.
From 2025 to 2028, analysts expect Chevron's EPS to grow at a 16% CAGR. It pays an attractive forward yield of 3.5%, and it looks reasonably valued at 24 times this year's earnings. That low valuation and high yield make it one of the easiest ways to profit from higher oil prices.
The midstream giant: Enbridge
Enbridge, which is based in Canada, is a midstream company that operates over 70,000 miles of pipelines and smaller feeder lines across North America. It moves about 30% of the crude oil produced in North America and 20% of the natural gas consumed in the United States.
NYSE: ENB
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Enbridge is less exposed to volatile commodity prices than Chevron and other oil majors, since it merely charges upstream and downstream companies "tolls" to use its infrastructure. As long as those resources keep flowing through its pipelines, it will generate stable profits. That's why it's raised its dividend annually for 31 consecutive years.
Over the next few years, Enbridge will keep expanding as it transports more oil and gas, secures additional natural gas contracts, and finally restarts construction of Line 5 -- a controversial pipeline in Michigan and Wisconsin that faced regulatory challenges -- after years of delays.
From 2025 to 2028, analysts expect Enbridge's adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA) to grow at a 5% CAGR. It trades at just 14 times this year's adjusted EBITDA, and it pays an attractive forward yield of 5.2%. If you're looking for a cheap evergreen play on the energy market, Enbridge checks all the right boxes.
The electrification leader: Vistra
Vistra is the largest power generation and retail electricity service provider in the United States. Its massive portfolio of natural gas, nuclear, coal, solar, and battery energy storage facilities has a combined capacity of roughly 44 GW. That's enough to power about 22 million homes. Its retail business -- which owns TXU Energy, Dynegy, Homefield Energy, Ambit, and other regional brands -- sells electricity to roughly five million residential, commercial, and industrial customers.
NYSE: VST
Key Data Points
That scale makes Vistra an easy way to profit from the soaring demand for more energy. It's also a reliable dividend play that has raised its payout annually for six consecutive years.
Vistra expanded rapidly over the past few years by acquiring more nuclear energy and natural gas plants. Earlier this year, it secured a 20-year deal to supply Meta Platforms' (META +4.82%) data centers with thousands of megawatts of electricity. Other hyperscalers will likely follow Meta's lead and sign similar long-term contracts with Vistra to support the long-term expansion of the power-hungry cloud, AI, and data center businesses.
From 2025 to 2028, analysts expect Vistra's EPS to rise nearly sixfold as those tailwinds kick in. Yet its stock still looks like a bargain at 18 times this year's earnings, and it pays a modest forward yield of 0.6%. That makes it an easy way to profit from the ongoing energy boom.
