ExxonMobil Resumes Beaumont Unit Fuel Production Post Harvey

Energy major ExxonMobil (NYSE:XOM) has announced the restart of fuel production at its Beaumont and Baytown refineries at a lower rate as the company is steadily recovering from Hurricane Harvey.

The pipelines for transporting oil and refined petroleum products to and from the Baytown refinery have resumed operations. ExxonMobil added that terminals in the San Antonio and Irving, TX areas have recommenced services.

The company’s upstream activities, both onshore and offshore the U.S. Gulf Coast area, are back to the pre-Harvey levels.

The businesses that manufacture chemical and lubricants are gradually returning to normal levels. Although ExxonMobil’s olefins manufacturing plant at the Baytown refinery has resumed operations, it is producing refined products at a comparatively reduced rate. Also, the chemical plant at the Beaumont refinery is gradually approaching normalcy.

However, ExxonMobil declared the resumption of pre-Hurricane production volumes by its chemical unit at Baytown refinery, plastics plant at Mont Belvieu and polyethylene unit at Beaumont refinery.

Irving, TX-based ExxonMobil is the world’s best-run integrated oil company based on its track record of high return on capital employed. As the largest publicly traded oil company, ExxonMobil has long been a core holding for investors seeking defensive as well as continued dividend growth.

However, ExxonMobil’s pricing chart fails to impress. The company has lost 11.5% year to date as compared with the 1% decline of its industry.

The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), implying that the stock will perform in line with the broader U.S. equity market over the next one to three months.

A few better-ranked players in the energy sector are TransCanada Corporation (TO:TRP) , Transmontaigne Partners LP (NYSE:TLP) and Lonestar Resources US Inc. (NASDAQ:LONE) . All the stocks sport a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Headquartered in Calgary, Canada, TransCanada is a midstream energy firm in North America. The company posted an average positive earnings surprise of 4.06% over the last four quarters.

Headquartered in Denver, CO, Transmontaigne is involved in the transportation and storage of refined petroleum products. The firm recorded an average positive earnings surprise of 6.60% over the last four quarters.

Based in Fort Worth, TX, Lonestar Resources is an upstream energy player. The company’s 2017 earnings are estimated to grow 79.7%.

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