CVXChevron Corporation

Chevron is the second-largest US oil and gas company, with a more concentrated asset portfolio and a strong balance sheet.

Production is concentrated in the Permian basin, Kazakhstan and the Gulf of Mexico offshore, with refining in the United States and Asia. The company traditionally carries less debt than peers, and that is deliberate: the cushion lets it pass through low-price periods without cutting distributions.

As with any company in the sector, results follow the commodity price while investment decisions are made years ahead of knowing it. Hence capital discipline: in recent years the industry has preferred returning cash to shareholders over adding production at any cost.

A separate factor is dealmaking and the legal disputes over asset rights that can delay large acquisitions for a long time. Chevron is an income stock with a long record of increases and one of the principal ways to hold oil price exposure through equities.