MUR

Murphy Oil’s second quarter was marked by strong revenue growth, but the market responded negatively, with shares declining after results. Management highlighted the importance of recent exploration outcomes, especially the Bubale discovery in Côte d'Ivoire, and discussed the impact of a less favorable result at Hai Su Vang in Vietnam. CEO Eric Hambly described the company’s appraisal approach as “a staged data-driven process” designed to reduce risk and avoid premature capital commitments. The quarter’s performance was also shaped by increased investment in the Eagle Ford asset, which management views as a key source of near-term cash flow. Is now the time to buy MUR? Find out in our full research report (it’s free). Revenue: $928.3 million vs analyst estimates of $896.6 million (33.5% year-on-year growth, 3.5% beat) Adjusted EPS: $1.55 vs analyst expectations of $1.58 (2.2% miss) Operating Margin: 38.2%, up from 13.3% in the same quarter last year Oil production per day: down -3.5% year on year Market Capitalization: $5.12 billion While we enjoy listening to the management’s commentary, our favorite part of earnings calls is the analyst questions. Those are unscripted and can often highlight topics that management teams would rather avoid or topics where the answer is complicated. Here is what has caught our attention. Arun Jayaram (JPMorgan Securities) asked about the next steps at Hai Su Vang and the field development decision process. CEO Eric Hambly said the team is calibrating the plan based on new data and expects to reach a final investment decision in late 2027. Neil Mehta (Goldman Sachs) questioned the rationale behind accelerating Eagle Ford investment. Hambly emphasized that strong well performance and cash flow generation, rather than current oil prices, drove the decision to ramp activity. Carlos Escalante (Wolfe Research) inquired about capital allocation priorities if conditions require a leaner 2027 program. Hambly detailed that spending could be reined in across all regions and that appraisal pace in Bubale could be slowed to preserve flexibility. Phillip Jungwirth (BMO) asked about the extent of Austin Chalk's role in the Eagle Ford program. Hambly clarified that Austin Chalk is a minor component, primarily limited to certain positions, and is not a major driver of near-term results. Timothy Rezvan (KeyBanc) sought insight into long-term exploration aspirations in Vietnam. Hambly indicated exploration activity would be paced by cash flow from new production and would focus on existing blocks with the potential for tiebacks and incremental growth. In the coming quarters, the StockStory team will watch (1) the progress and results of Bubale’s appraisal program, which will be pivotal for long-term growth; (2) the impact of accelerated Eagle Ford drilling on cash flow and funding for offshore projects; and (3) the initial production ramp at Lac Da Vang in Vietnam. Updates on further exploration in Africa and Asia, as well as the company’s ability to maintain financial flexibility amid rising capital needs, will also be key signposts. Murphy Oil currently trades at $35.88, in line with $36.04 just before the earnings. Is there an opportunity in the stock? See for yourself in our full research report (it’s free for active Edge members). ONE MORE THING: Top 5 Growth Stocks. The biggest stock winners almost always had one thing in common before they ran. Revenue growing like crazy. Meta. CrowdStrike. Broadcom. Our AI flagged all three. They returned 315%, 314%, and 455%, respectively. Find out which 5 stocks it’s flagging this month — FREE. Get Our Top 5 Growth Stocks for Free HERE. Stocks that have made our list include now familiar names such as Nvidia (+1,460% between June 2020 and June 2025) as well as under-the-radar businesses like the once-small-cap company Exlservice (+271% between June 2020 and June 2025). Find your next big winner with StockStory today.

Image source: The Motley Fool. Thursday, Aug. 6, 2026 at 9:00 a.m. ET Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer - Atif Riaz President and Chief Executive Officer - Eric Hambly Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer - Tom Mireles Senior Vice President of Operations - Chris Lorino Operator: Good morning. My name is Fern. I will be your conference operator today. [Operator Instructions] I will now turn it over to Atif Riaz, Vice President of Investor Relations and Treasurer. Atif Riaz: Thank you, Fern. Good morning, and welcome to our second quarter 2026 earnings conference call. Joining me today are Eric Hambly, President and CEO; Tom Mireles, Executive Vice President and CFO; and Chris Lorino, Senior Vice President of Operations. Yesterday, after market close, we issued our second quarter earnings release, a slide presentation and a stockholder update. These documents can be found on Murphy's website, and we will reference them today throughout our call. As a reminder, today's call contains forward-looking statements as defined under U.S. securities laws. No assurances can be given that these events will occur or that the projections will be attained. A variety of factors exist that may cause actual results to differ. For further discussion of risk factors, please refer to our most recent annual report filed with the SEC. Murphy takes no duty to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, except as required by law. Throughout today's call, production numbers, reserves and financial amounts are adjusted to exclude noncontrolling interest in the Gulf of America. I will now turn the call over to Eric for opening remarks. Eric Hambly: Thank you, Atif, and thanks to everyone for joining us. We released detailed earnings materials yesterday, so I will keep my comments focused this morning. I want to spend most of my time on the key developments in the quarter, including what we learned through our exploration and appraisal program, how those learnings are shaping our capital allocation and why we believe these investments strengthen Murphy's long-term outlook. The most important development this quarter was the Bubale discovery in Côte d'Ivoire. Just as important as the result itself is the disciplined exploration process that led us here. We entered Côte d'Ivoire with a clear thesis and a 3-well exploration strategy. And although the first 2 wells were noncommercial, we remain confident in Bubale's prospectivity and continuing to execute the plan. That patience and technical conviction paid off as the well encountered oil in both the Turonian and Cenomanian reservoirs. Now we want to be very clear about where we are in the process. While Bubale has the potential to become a significant growth driver for Murphy, there is still important appraisal work ahead. The next step is to understand the scale, quality, continuity and economics of the resource. That work is now underway with the Bubale West-1X, which we spud in July to begin appraisal of the Turonian reservoir. It is the first of up to 5 potential appraisal wells. I emphasize potential because this will be a staged data-driven process over the next 18 to 24 months with each well determining the scope and direction of the remaining appraisal program. An 18- to 24-month appraisal program may sound lengthy, but this is how we protect value. In our business, value can be destroyed long before a development well is ever drilled by misunderstanding the resource, overbuilding the project or committing capital too early. Appraisal helps us avoid those mistakes by giving us the technical confidence to rightsize the development and make disciplined capital decisions. Hai Su Vang in Vietnam exemplifies the importance of that discipline. Hai Su Vang-4X was a dry hole. And based on the new data, we have reduced our resource estimate. There is no sugar coating it. This is not the outcome we were hoping for. However, the appraisal program gave us critical insights, allowing us to now calibrate the field development plan before we commit significant capital in the coming years. Following the Hai Su Vang resource estimate revision, I want to emphasize 2 important points. First, even at the revised estimate, Hai Su Vang remains a material 200 million to 300 million barrel oil equivalent opportunity, approximately 2 to 3x the size of Lac Da Vang. And second, our Vietnam peak production outlook of 30,000 to 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day remains unchanged. We may come closer to the lower end based just on what we know today, but the final outcome will depend on what additional tieback opportunities we identify as we move forward. The key takeaway is that we now have greater clarity around our opportunity set with many compelling projects competing for capital. That brings me to our revised capital program and how we're thinking about investments going forward. We're increasing the midpoint of our 2026 capital expenditure estimate from $1.25 billion to $1.55 billion. This is not about chasing activity or reacting to price. It's a deliberate decision to fund specific high-value opportunities now in front of us with almost all of the increase supporting Murphy's organic growth. Roughly $190 million relates to Bubale, including $100 million of incremental spend on the discovery well and $90 million for the first appraisal well. Another $70 million is going into the Eagle Ford, which is expected to add approximately 5,000 to 6,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2027. I want to take a minute to talk about the Eagle Ford decision because it highlights the key role this asset plays in our portfolio. As our offshore opportunity set expands, we can fund part of that growth through near-term, high-return production and cash flow. Eagle Ford is one of our best assets to do that. It is flexible, oil-weighted and capable of efficiently translating capital into production. Going forward, we expect the Eagle Ford to become an increasingly important source of cash flow and financial flexibility across the business. This is the strength of our multi-basin portfolio in action, not a change in capital discipline. Our ability to fund growth through our base business while maintaining financial strength was evident this quarter. We generated $110 million of free cash flow, returned $50 million to shareholders through the dividend, maintain leverage below 1x and ended with approximately $2.5 billion of liquidity. Even with the revised capital program at current commodity prices, we expect to generate positive free cash flow for the full year. Operationally, second quarter production averaged 169,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, above the midpoint of our guidance, led by stronger performance at Tupper Montney and continued outperformance in the Eagle Ford. In the Gulf of America, Chinook #8 is now through drilling after reaching a total depth of 26,000 feet and remains on track to come online in the fourth quarter. Lac Da Vang is also on schedule for first oil in the fourth quarter with the pipeline, topsides and FSO milestones now complete. As we look ahead, years of capital discipline and technical rigor are beginning to translate into a portfolio with multiple exciting pathways to growth. This is the Murphy model in action, identify the opportunity, test it with discipline, develop it safely and efficiently and fund it through resilient cash flow and financial strength. This full cycle capability and track record across geographies, asset types and development stages sets Murphy apart and positions us to convert the opportunity ahead into lasting shareholder value. With that, we are ready to take your questions. Operator: [Operator Instructions] The first question is from the line of Arun Jayaram with JPMorgan Securities. Arun Jayaram: I appreciate the comments in the shareholder letter. Exploration as is investing can be humbling, but did want to maybe get your thoughts on next steps at HSV, what needs to happen in terms of kind of moving to that FID decision in 2027? And can you give us a little bit of an update on how you are thinking about kind of the development options for HSV? Eric Hambly: Arun, thanks for that. Great question. Obviously, we're disappointed that the 4X well was a dry hole. But I will say that we're still very excited about what is a very significant development for us, 200 million to 300 million barrel field in shallow water will have very attractive economics. I would have loved for it to be larger. We now have a lot of confidence in the size of the resource and gaining increasing knowledge about how we're going to develop the field in terms of the well count, well spacing and the type of facility concept is something we'll be evolving over the coming year or so. We are looking at a number of options for the development. One option would be an FPSO. The other option would be a processing platform with a series of wellhead platforms tied to an FSO similar to our Lac Da Vang project. Those are things that we will assess as we plan a development of the field over the coming 12 months or so. We're going to work closely with our partners on a series of approvals required to achieve an approved field development in Vietnam. And after we do that, we will take the project to our Board for a final investment decision. As we highlighted in our letter, we're targeting that in the fourth quarter of 2027. And I think we're well on track to do that. Really happy with this significant discovery that will help us build a really material business in Vietnam. And I think we're going to create a lot of value for our shareholders. And I don't think we're getting a lot of recognition of that value creation today, and we're happy to demonstrate our ability to continue to execute developing projects 40% faster than the industry. Arun Jayaram: Great. And maybe my follow-up, you've spud now Bubale West in July. It looks like you'll be appraising the Turonian. Maybe just give us a sense of what your concept is for this appraisal well? And what will be the governor of the next -- the development or the appraisal program, which could include up to 5 wells? Eric Hambly: Yes. Thanks for that. As we've featured before, we drilled the discovery well in a position where the Turonian and the Cenomanian cross. There was one location where we could test both reservoirs. We were fortunate to be able to find oil in both Turonian and Cenomanian. And that leaves us with a need to understand the lateral extent of the field, the variability in reservoir quality and thickness across 2 different reservoir intervals and also importantly, learn how much of those structures are oil field. So the next well that we moved to Bubale West-1X is moving down dip in the Turonian. The main objective of the well is to test for continuity and variability of reservoir sands and also hopefully determine to prove a deeper oil level than is proven at the base of the Bubale-1X well. We're very intentionally targeting the well to give us high confidence that we have a resource in the Turonian that is in line with or in excess of the volume we need to have a commercial development. As we sit today, we think what we found is a commercial, but we don't have high confidence because we have 1 penetration in 2 reservoirs, very large reservoirs to test, very large lateral extent, and we're hoping this well gives us high confidence that we'll be able to then move forward with the development as quickly as possible while we continue to assess and appraise the full size and value of the field. Operator: Your next question is from the line of Neil Mehta with Goldman Sachs. Neil Mehta: Eric, I want you to unpack a little bit of the decision to pull forward activity in the Eagle Ford. You alluded to it a little bit in your comments, but maybe you talk about why you thought this was the right environment and what kind of incremental returns you're going to get on the incremental CapEx associated with the $70 million acceleration. Eric Hambly: Yes. Thanks for that. Before I get just into the Eagle Ford, I want to back up a bit and talk about how we've been thinking about our overall company business. What we said over the last few years is we thought we could develop our kind of base business, continue to develop that and also our emerging and growing Vietnam business with a capital program that's sort of in a $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion range. And that any additional spending to develop something like Bubale would likely be additive or largely additive. And I would say where we sit today, that is still true. So as we look forward and think we want to maintain our Canadian onshore business effectively flat, maintain the scale of our Gulf of America business relatively flat through the rest of this decade. We look at additional need for CapEx for appraising and developing Bubale and the place that we found was most optimal to help provide part of that is through accelerating our Eagle Ford. If you look at our Eagle Ford business, we've had increasingly strong well performance over the last few years, generating strong free cash flows even in periods of fairly low oil price in the past couple of years. And so the reliability of it and the flexibility of it, we look at it and say, this is a great place to invest a little bit more that will generate more free cash flow next year and likely through the end of the decade that will help us fund the appraisal of Bubale. And then as we move into additional volume growth out of Vietnam, we'll have even stronger cash flows. So it's the best place to find oily production, and we can do it scalably, and we've had very strong returns and increasing well performance from Eagle Ford. So it's kind of the go-to place to do it. And I think you'll see us, as we highlighted in our materials, increased spending this year, which leads to increased free cash flow next year. And while we haven't formulated a plan that we've released for '28 through 2030, I think you'll see us increasingly lean into that if it allows us to continue to generate more free cash flow. So really about creating shareholder value. I think it's nice to be able to generate incremental oily production growth in the short run. But the primary reason is it's free cash flow generative and can help us fund what we think is an exciting opportunity in Côte d'Ivoire. Neil Mehta: Yes, Eric, that's the follow-up. So the new CapEx plan is $1.5 billion, $1.6 billion in accrued CapEx for this year. Any advice on what we should put in as a placeholder for '27? I know there's a lot of moving pieces, but just any thoughts on the market there so we can calibrate accordingly. Eric Hambly: Yes, that's a fair question. We don't have a number to give you for next year's CapEx, but I'll talk just about how I think about it. I think that you should expect us to increase slightly more in the Eagle Ford than in the past. With that alone without any change to investing in Côte d'Ivoire, that would likely put our typical capital program toward the high end of our kind of previous $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion range, maybe slightly above. That's still something we're going to work on. And then spending on Bubale is likely additive to that. So we'll probably see a higher CapEx in '27 than you've seen from us recently. I don't know the number. And importantly, I want to kind of go back to the comment we made about the appraisal program. We're going to drill -- we're drilling a well in Bubale West-1X now. Depending on what we find, we may have no appraisal program or a limited appraisal program. We're going to learn from every well. And next year's capital spending will be materially driven by what we continue to find. If we keep finding more oil at Bubale, we'll likely keep spending. If we have less wells required to define the size, scope and quality of Bubale, then we'll spend less. And so there's a pretty big range around that. We're going to still work on that. The results from the Bubale West-1X well will probably materially shape our view of likely spending and spending ranges for 2027. But I think I don't want to try to make you feel like we're likely to come in below $1.25 billion next year. It's going to be higher. I don't know how much higher, but we're going to be disciplined, focused on creating shareholder value and investing in things that are going to be very valuable for our company and our shareholders. Operator: Your next question is from the line of Carlos Escalante with Wolfe Research. Carlos Andres E. Escalante: I want to go back to HSV very quickly to clarify a few things and then move on from there. So it looks like HSV-4 was a dry hole, which, in my view, it implies that you didn't find an oil-water contact that's presumably more up dip. So just wondering what's stopping you from testing an additional well that where you can find that threshold and what gives you the confidence that you don't need to? And perhaps we can speak more broadly about what you found in HSV -3 in terms of the discovery pay or any kind of really property around the well and the discovery. Eric Hambly: Yes. Thanks, Carlos. I'm happy to provide more context there. Let me go back to where we were at the end of the 2X well. So we drilled 1X, 2X. We had extremely encouraging results, strong DSTs. We had a view at the time that the field was likely toward the high end of our previously guided, which was a predrilled range of resource. And we told everyone that because we wanted to inform and keep everyone appraised of how we were thinking about it. And we said at the time, we thought it was possible that the resource could be even larger. But importantly, we had drilled a fairly central area of the field, and we needed to test the Northeast and Southwest extensions of the field, which is what the purpose of the 3X and 4X wells was. So with the 3X, we were testing for lateral extensions in the Northeast, how continuous are the sands, are they the same quality? We weren't really chasing a deeper oil-water contact there. We were just chasing for continuity. And then with the 4X well, we were testing what we thought would be an expanded reservoir section with potentially a deeper oil-water contact. And what we found from the program from the 3X and the 4X was that the reservoir thickness was not as extensive as we expected over the entire structure, which tightened up the resource estimate. With the 4X, we found the interval we were looking for, but the reservoir quality was low. So we didn't have any net pay. So the story for 4X was not really about oil-water contact. It was really about the extent of productive reservoir being limited. So now that we have bounded the reservoir with these 4 wells, we have high confidence in developable resource that we're going to move forward with the field development plan. Carlos Andres E. Escalante: I appreciate that. So yes, presumably a 4-way closer. So you don't need to test the other bounds. And then my follow-up and maybe a follow-up to Neil's question. For next year, again, very difficult for you to talk about '27, where we are today. But can you at least frame for us how you're thinking on what is senior to what in terms of the levers you can pull if you needed to have a more lean program, if you will, in 2027? Obviously, it sounds like you're going to prioritize the appraisal at Bubale, if you find any kind of success. But wondering what it means for the broader onshore portfolio and maybe the Gulf of America, if you need to, again, be leaner on your '27 program? Eric Hambly: Yes. I think what you'll see from us is investing in our Gulf of America business to try to maintain production relatively stable there. And in our Eagle Ford, likely incrementally more spending than historical. And in Canada onshore, stable investment, stable production. Vietnam, obviously, we're working through additional development drilling in our Lac Da Vang project. We won't have likely additional drilling in Hai Su Vang next year. So we're moving to engineering studies, which is not a lot of spending. And then in Côte d'Ivoire, what we spend will be driven by what we keep finding, as I mentioned before with Neil. And that's really driving a significant uncertainty in our spending. But as I said, we're going to learn from every appraisal well, and we'll decide what does that mean about the next well. And so there's a probably broad uncertainty. If we needed to pull back spending for some reason, if oil prices went to be extremely low, we could change our plan for practically any part of our business. We are fortunate in Vietnam and in Côte d'Ivoire that we operate so we can control the pace of any spending. We believe it is valuable for shareholders to quickly appraise Bubale, determine if we have a commercial project definitively and determine the extent of it so we can move on for field development planning. But if we needed to, we could slow the pace of appraisal. We could go as low as 0 appraisal wells in Bubale next year if we chose to. And so we have a lot of flexibility. We're going to continue to spend money where we think it's value creating for shareholders and maintain flexibility to spend less if it's necessary. Operator: Your next question is from the line of Phillip Jungwirth with BMO. Phillip Jungwirth: Coming back to the Eagle Ford, which will be a larger part of the program. I know you've always had Austin Chalk in the location count, but it has gotten more attention late across both the East and West portions of the play. I was just hoping you could talk about how large a contributor the Chalk is to your program, go-forward program? Or is it largely lower Eagle Ford focused still and just how you see the opportunity set here overall? Eric Hambly: Sure. Our Eagle Ford inventory has fairly limited amount of Austin Chalk. Our development programs in Karnes, over part of our Karnes position will include an occasional 1 or 2 Austin Chalk wells in a 10- to 12-well pad that is mostly Lower and upper Eagle Ford locations. So we have been developing them. They're limited to part of our Karnes position in terms of what we're investing in, in near term. And so they're not a huge feature for us. We like them where the reservoir quality is good. So we co-develop them where it makes sense. I don't think it's a big driver for our program. So it's not something that is really worth calling out or highlighting as unique. It's fairly limited. But where we do have them in part of our Karnes position, we really like them. Phillip Jungwirth: Okay. Great. And then on the Bubale West appraisal well, I was hoping you could kind of just speak to the confidence in the $90 million well cost or maybe just break down the incremental costs from the first well and why you think these won't repeat just to have confidence as the play moves forward in the overall well cost and ultimate F&D. Eric Hambly: Sure. Before we drilled the Bubale-1X well, we estimated that a dry hole cost for the well was $65 million. When we drilled the well, we encountered section in the shallow Turonian above the discovered Turonian interval that was slow to drill. We had fairly slow rate of penetration as we drilled it. It's slower than we had anticipated. And we've incorporated that learning into our dry hole cost estimate for the Bubale West-1X well. So instead of assuming a $65 million, we're moving it to $90 million. If we encounter hydrocarbons in the West-1X well, we're likely to spend additional funds with formation evaluation, logging core, fluid samples, et cetera. And that might push the well cost above $90 million, which is normal how we conduct our business. Operator: Your next question is from the line of Tim Rezvan with KeyBanc. Timothy Rezvan: I want to ask on Vietnam more broadly. You've now wrapped the HSV appraisal program. You talked about drilling LDT. I believe it's a 40 million to 80 million barrel resource potential area. Given the large size of your position across several blocks, can you talk about longer-term exploration aspirations in Vietnam, maybe 2027 and beyond? And do you ultimately see this asset sort of self-funding future exploration once you get LDV online? Eric Hambly: Yes, that's a really good question. We are drilling the Lac Da Trang North-1X well now. And as you mentioned, it has a predrill mean to upward resource range of 40 million to 80 million barrels, which is a nice prospect to drill. And with success, it likely sets up a development as a tieback of Lac Da Trang North and Lac Da Trang to the infrastructure at Lac Da Vang. As Lac Da Vang comes online in the fourth quarter, we'll generate revenue over the course of a few years. We'll recover the costs of our historical investment in the block. That will be all of our exploration costs in Block 15-1/05 and also our development costs of Lac Da Vang. And then we'll be able to use the revenue from Lac Da Vang to recover costs from the exploration that we're doing going forward, what we're doing now and in future years. We have significant remaining prospectivity on both Block 15-1/05 and 15-2/17 and we'll test those likely between now and the end of this decade and stage in a development with stand-alone developments where the resource size is large enough to be necessary or tiebacks to existing infrastructure in what are likely to be 2 key hubs, a Lac Da Vang and Hai Su Vang hub in kind of a north and south position. So we're really excited about the potential there. We had a pretty strong record of having successful exploration here to keep finding oil, and we need to find about 8 million to 10 million barrels for an economic tieback. So if we can find 40 million to 80 million, we'll be very happy. It will be very value creating for us and will allow us to maintain a long production plateau of our overall Vietnam business. So we're creating a lot of value here with our shareholders, spending very little money to do it. Timothy Rezvan: Okay. That's good context. As my follow-up, I just wanted to go back to the Eagle Ford. You're spending $70 million. Can you just talk -- is this like a spot rig that's going to come and drill a couple of pads over 6 months? And then as we think about that, should we be thinking over the medium term that maybe you're going to run this at a 40,000 to 45,000 barrel a day level? Just trying to kind of contextualize the ramp you're anticipating. Eric Hambly: Yes. So where we sit today, we do not have a rig actively drilling in the Eagle Ford. We completed our drilling program that we had originally contemplated and are working through the last of our completions and well on lines. And what we've decided to do is resume drilling instead of resume drilling in January to pull that forward to begin in October, we'll drill a pad in Karnes and a pad in Catarina this year. We'll probably begin completing the Catarina pad at the end of the year, and we'll bring those new wells online early in 2027. And I think what you'll see is it's just the beginning of an active program next year. I think your range of rates for Eagle Ford next year is reasonable. I would assume we're a little toward the higher end of what you said than the lower end, but we still have to formulate exactly what our 2027 program is. Operator: Your next question is from the line of Josh Silverstein with UBS. Joshua Silverstein: I want to see how we should be thinking about using the balance sheet and the shareholder return profile in this period of higher spending. Are you willing to use the balance sheet to support all these projects getting incremental capital? And then as far as the shareholder return profile, is this really just limited to the base dividend going forward as you examine everything here? Eric Hambly: That's a great question, Josh. The way I would frame it is we have not changed our capital allocation plan or framework at all. We still have the exact same priorities. We plan to prioritize investing in our assets to maintain or grow the scale, pay dividend, focus on balance sheet and occasionally share buybacks when it makes sense. And so we really have no change in that. Our plan, as we've been very clear about, is based on adjusted free cash flow, which is after our dividend and a few other things, including M&A. We will likely, going forward, have modest free cash flow. There may be periods between now and first oil at HSV or potentially if we're so fortunate at all that we have periods of time of negative free cash flow for the whole company. We're going to be measured in our pace, and we're going to be very conscious of protecting our balance sheet. We're not afraid of using our liquidity and our balance sheet as necessary, but we're going to keep ourselves in a strong balance sheet position at all times. That's a priority for us. So we will definitely be maintaining our dividend. That's core to us. We paid a dividend since 1961. We're going to continue to pay a dividend, I would imagine, going forward for the entire tenure of me being here. And as -- if we encounter situations where we think our share price is significantly out of whack with intrinsic value, then we'll be active in share buyback. So I think that's the same story you've heard from us in the past. We're fortunate to have even more organic growth opportunities than we had a few years ago. It provides us more challenges in terms of how we choose to allocate capital, but we're in control of the pace as operator everywhere, and we're going to do what we think is best for shareholder value going forward. Again, not being afraid to use our balance sheet, but always with an eye toward protecting a strong balance sheet at all times. Joshua Silverstein: Got it. And then I just wanted to see what's potentially on the exploration horizon next year since you've added some new exploration opportunities across West and North Africa and how you would classify them relative to what you've done in Vietnam and Côte d'Ivoire? Eric Hambly: Yes. Thanks for that. I think you'll see next year that we'll invest in the Gulf of America and exploring in 1 or 2 wells. You'll likely see us invest in Vietnam and our Cuu Long blocks, most likely in 15-1/05, the inventory that we were just talking about a few minutes ago. And I don't expect other than appraisal drilling in West Africa, we'll have more West Africa drilling activity. We're intentionally phasing in opportunities in West Africa that have -- that are at different parts of our prospect maturation time frame. So we signed a block in Morocco recently. We're going to reprocess seismic there. That's very little spending. We're hoping to finalize agreements for Cameroon and Mauritania in -- by the end of this year and next year, spend small money with studies, maybe the beginnings of seismic reprocessing, small dollar spending, drilling in Cameroon, Mauritania or Morocco is probably a 2028, 2029, 2030 thing depending on what we find. We're going to follow our recipe of very detailed regional study leading to detailed prospect maturation and drill or not drill based on the merits of the prospects. That takes some time. And as you saw, it led to some success here for us in Côte d'Ivoire. So we think we're setting up for a repeatable business model of exploring in emerging on frontier basins and doing it with low entry cost, relatively low well cost, targeting large resource, and that's very value creating if we can continue to have some success. Operator: Your next question is from the line of Leo Mariani with ROTH. Leo Mariani: You spoke to this a bit earlier, but clearly, you're making a decision to put more capital in the Eagle Ford to ramp it. Presumably, that is probably more of a higher oil price type of decision. I would venture a guess that if oil is lower for whatever reason, then perhaps that asset does not see a real increase in free cash flow from putting more capital into it, which obviously will generate more production. Can you just provide any kind of thoughts around that? I mean it just seems like, obviously, now with higher oil prices, that investment will generate incremental free cash flow in the next couple of years, but perhaps there's some kind of breakeven where that starts to go away if oil is low enough. Eric Hambly: Yes, Leo, our decision to invest more in Eagle Ford is not driven by near-term higher oil price. It's driven by ability to generate strong free cash flows with a significant range of oil prices. If we saw oil price below $50 for a year, we would probably pare back our investment in a lot of places, including Eagle Ford. But with even a significant range of oil prices in line with what we've seen over the last 3 years, we feel that Eagle Ford investment makes sense. We generate strong free cash flow over the last few years doing it. We have increasingly strong well performance. And at even modest oil prices, we'll be investing in it to generate strong free cash flows. So we're not reacting to oil price. We're saying we now have a strong portfolio of organic growth to invest in. And part of the way we can fund that is by generating more free cash flow from the Eagle Ford by investing more in the Eagle Ford. Leo Mariani: Okay. Appreciate that. And then just on Vietnam, obviously, you guys are going to have first oil here in the fourth quarter. Just looking at your guidance, you kind of expect a relatively small amount, but presumably, that's going to ramp nicely in 2027. Can you just provide maybe a little color around kind of the thoughts on that potential ramp on Vietnam oil next year? Eric Hambly: Sure. As you mentioned, we'll have fairly limited contribution to production this year because of a fourth quarter online first oil for Lac Da Vang. We will continue to drill development wells through this year and into next year. If you look out towards the end of 2027, Lac Da Vang net production is probably in the 5,000 to 9,000 barrel a day range. And as we continue to drill the remaining development wells in our phase development program through '28 and '29, we'll ultimately ramp up to 10,000 to 15,000 barrels a day. Leo Mariani: Okay. So just to be clear, is that 5,000 to 9,000 barrel a day kind of like a '27 exit rate and then obviously it continues to ramp in '28, '29? Eric Hambly: That's exactly right. Leo Mariani: Okay. Helpful for sure. And then just last one for me, Eric. You talked about this a little bit, but you guys have really gotten into a number of new exploration plays recently, a lot of which are in Africa, and you kind of rattled off sort of the plans, which seem a little bit limited in terms of capital in the near term. But presumably, those plays could require more capital as you get into '28, '29. I imagine there might be a shot clock on some of those to get some wells drilled eventually if you think prospects are maturing in the right way. Does this set up for like just a lot higher capital later this decade and kind of the success case? And then just if that's right, just thoughts on how you would kind of handle that, fund that. Eric Hambly: The way I would characterize that, Leo, is if we are conducting our typical sort of assessed opportunities and drill an exploration well occasionally, then that would not materially push our capital higher. Obviously, Bubale is likely to push our capital higher with success. Exploring and drilling an occasional well is something that fits into our overall exploration program kind of in line with what we've been spending. If we are fortunate to have a discovery in Morocco, Cameroon, Mauritania, then that would lead to additional appraisal drilling and then development drilling, which would be great. That's obviously a long way away. And as you know, exploration wells tend to be dry holes. So I'm not too worried about it yet. I think we'll continue to expose ourselves to opportunities that are at various stages and I'm not concerned about a strong draw for capital between now and the end of this decade in any of those new entries, but excited for the potential that they may help us continue to have opportunities to develop and grow as we exit the 2030s and head into the 2040s. Operator: [Operator Instructions] Your next question is from the line of Charles Meade with Johnson Rice. Charles Meade: I'd like to go back to the -- excuse me, the appraisal effort at Bubale, and I apologize if I missed some of the earlier detail. But I think what I heard you say is that -- you said this, the Bubale West is -- it's a down dip Turonian appraisal. But I guess I want to ask 2 things. When -- I guess, the design of the appraisal well and then the plans for the Cenomanian, for the design of the appraisal, is this -- there's a lot of competing, I guess, priorities or competing ways that you design appraisal well. Is this -- for 8 miles out, is this just -- is the dominant thing to test the extent of the structure? Or are you really trying to -- are you perhaps instead looking for more reservoir development and more pay thickness? And then how would you answer that same sort of question for the eventual Cenomanian appraisal test? Eric Hambly: Okay. Thanks, Charles. So the West-1X well is designed to Turonian down dip. It is testing for variability of reservoir, that would be reservoir thickness, reservoir quality. We're hoping to get confidence that where we drill the Cenomanian at that location is connected to the Bubale-1X location and also hoping to demonstrate an oil-water or an oil level deeper than the oil down to in the Bubale-1 well. So it's doing multiple things. And we think that location is important because with significant oil presence in that well, in the Bubale West-1X well, to be clear, that we'll have high confidence that we have a commercial development, but still significant uncertainty about the range of resource. So the location of the 1X well was drilled in a position where there was significant up-dip reservoir in the Cenomanian and the Turonian and potentially significant down-dip potential in both. And the reservoir and the Turonian and the reservoir in the Cenomanian, they cross -- if you were looking at them from above, they cross like an X. We drilled the 1X well right where they cross. So like I said, potential up-dip and down-dip from that in both reservoirs. And ultimately, if we have success, we'll continue to identify and drill appraisal wells that will, over time, reduce uncertainty and give us high confidence in what we need to develop, how we need to develop it. So this next well is really key for us to having high confidence in a commercial discovery. Charles Meade: Got it. So it gets you with confidence over the low end, but with the upper end maybe still more unbounded. Eric Hambly: Correct. Charles Meade: Going to Vietnam, and I appreciate your comments earlier about the basis that if I understood right that within the 4X, HSV-4X, you basically just didn't find reservoir quality rock. I'm curious, does that affect the prospectivity for some of these other blobs you have on your map in Block 15-2/17, I think they're labeled like [ Cozam ] and Hai Su Vang. Does this diminish your appetite to drill those somewhere down the line? Eric Hambly: Those other prospects, we obviously will have learned a little bit from drilling Hai Su Vang through various reservoirs, and we will incorporate that into our understanding of those. I would say because of the diversity of different play types there and different reservoirs that those prospects are targeting that we probably still have quite a bit of confidence that they make sense. But again, there's a little more work to do to plan an exploration program there. In 15-1/05, we have, I would say, very well characterized and the learnings from HSV don't significantly impact our prospectivity there. So you'll see us focus on exploring in 15-1/05 in the next couple of years with probably activity in 15-2/17 maybe in '28, '29, not in '27. Operator: There are no further questions at this time. I'll turn the call over to Mr. Hambly for closing remarks. Eric Hambly: Thank you. I'll close by thanking our employees for their commitment and execution. To our shareholders, we appreciate your continued trust and support. This concludes our call. Operator: This concludes today's call. Thank you for attending. You may now disconnect. Before you buy stock in Murphy Oil, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the 10 best stocks for investors to buy now… and Murphy Oil wasn’t one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut are built for long-term growth and could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $403,337!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you’d have $1,334,946!* That performance is why people listen. With a track record of beating the S&P 500 by 4x, Stock Advisor offers a distinct advantage. Don't miss the latest top 10 list, available with Stock Advisor, and join an investing community built for the long haul. See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of August 12, 2026. This article is a transcript of this conference call produced for The Motley Fool. While we strive for our Foolish Best, there may be errors, omissions, or inaccuracies in this transcript. As with all our articles, The Motley Fool does not assume any responsibility for your use of this content, and we strongly encourage you to do your own research, including listening to the call yourself and reading the company's SEC filings. Please see our Terms and Conditions for additional details, including our Obligatory Capitalized Disclaimers of Liability. The Motley Fool recommends Murphy Oil. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. Murphy Oil (MUR) Q2 2026 Earnings Call Transcript was originally published by The Motley Fool

Interested in Murphy Oil Corporation? Here are five stocks we like better. Murphy Oil’s Bubale discovery offshore Côte d’Ivoire encountered oil in two reservoirs and could become a major growth driver, but appraisal work remains. The first appraisal well is expected to cost about $90 million, with up to five wells possible over the next 18–24 months. The company reduced its Hai Su Vang resource estimate in Vietnam after a dry appraisal well, though it still sees a potential 200–300 million barrels of oil equivalent and is targeting a final investment decision in late 2027. Lac Da Vang remains on schedule for first oil in the fourth quarter. Murphy raised its 2026 capital-spending midpoint to $1.55 billion, including additional investment in Bubale and the Eagle Ford. Second-quarter production averaged 169,000 boe/d, while the company reported $110 million in free cash flow, leverage below 1x and about $2.5 billion of liquidity. 3 Stocks Standing Out and 2 Losing Momentum as the Tech Rally Cracks Murphy Oil (NYSE:MUR) highlighted a new discovery offshore Côte d’Ivoire, revised its 2026 capital program upward and outlined plans to accelerate activity in the Eagle Ford during its second-quarter 2026 earnings call. President and CEO Eric Hambly said the company’s most significant development during the quarter was the Bubale discovery, where the discovery well encountered oil in both the Turonian and Cenomanian reservoirs. Murphy entered Côte d’Ivoire with a three-well exploration strategy, and the first two wells were non-commercial, Hambly said. → Sandisk Just Delivered a Blowout Quarter—Here's Why the Stock Is Falling Savvy Investors' Rate Cut Portfolio: Bonds, Small Caps, Energy “While Bubale has the potential to become a significant growth driver for Murphy, there is still important appraisal work ahead,” Hambly said. The company spudded the Bubale West 1X appraisal well in July, targeting the Turonian reservoir. The well is the first in a potential program of up to five appraisal wells over the next 18 to 24 months. Hambly said the Bubale West 1X well is designed to test reservoir continuity, thickness and quality down dip from the discovery well, while also seeking to establish a deeper oil level. A successful result would provide Murphy with greater confidence that the discovery supports a commercial development, although the total resource range would remain uncertain. → 4 Oil and Gas ETF Plays as Prices Stay Sky-High 3 Small-Cap Stocks in the Russell 2000 Set to Rally Murphy estimates the appraisal well will cost about $90 million, up from its prior $65 million dry-hole cost estimate for the discovery well. Hambly said drilling through a shallow Turonian section was slower than expected, and the company incorporated that learning into its estimate for the appraisal well. If hydrocarbons are encountered, formation evaluation, logging, core and fluid-sampling work could raise the final well cost above $90 million. The company said future appraisal activity will be data-driven. Depending on results from Bubale West 1X, Murphy could pursue a broader appraisal campaign, a limited program or no additional appraisal wells next year. Hambly said Murphy controls the pace of spending because it operates its positions in Côte d’Ivoire and Vietnam. → No Hangover: Revisiting Microsoft One Week After Earnings Murphy also addressed results from the Hai Su Vang 4X appraisal well in Vietnam, which was a dry hole. The company reduced its resource estimate after the result, with Hambly saying the well found the targeted interval but encountered low reservoir quality and no net pay. Despite the revision, Murphy continues to view Hai Su Vang as a material opportunity of 200 million to 300 million barrels of oil equivalent, which Hambly described as roughly two to three times the size of the Lac Da Vang project. The company maintained its Vietnam peak-production outlook of 30,000 to 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, though Hambly said current information points toward the lower end of that range unless further tieback opportunities are identified. Murphy is evaluating development concepts for Hai Su Vang, including a floating production, storage and offloading vessel or a processing platform linked to wellhead platforms and a floating storage and offloading unit, similar to Lac Da Vang. The company is targeting a final investment decision in the fourth quarter of 2027 after completing development planning and obtaining required partner approvals. Lac Da Vang remains on schedule for first oil in the fourth quarter, according to Hambly, with pipeline, topsides and floating storage milestones completed. Murphy expects net production from the project to reach approximately 5,000 to 9,000 barrels per day by the end of 2027, eventually rising to 10,000 to 15,000 barrels per day as development drilling continues through 2028 and 2029. In addition, Murphy is drilling the Lac Da Trang North 1X exploration well in Vietnam. Hambly said the prospect has a pre-drill resource range of 40 million to 80 million barrels and could be developed as a tieback if successful. He said the company expects to focus near-term Vietnamese exploration on Block 15-1/05, while activity in Block 15-2/17 may occur in 2028 or 2029 rather than 2027. Murphy raised the midpoint of its 2026 capital expenditure estimate to $1.55 billion from $1.25 billion. The increase includes roughly $190 million associated with Bubale, consisting of $100 million of incremental spending on the discovery well and $90 million for the first appraisal well. The company also plans to direct an additional $70 million to the Eagle Ford, an investment expected to add about 5,000 to 6,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2027. Murphy plans to restart Eagle Ford drilling in October rather than January, drilling one pad in Karnes and another in Catarina. The company expects to begin completing the Catarina pad near year-end and bring wells online early in 2027. Hambly said Eagle Ford investment is intended to generate additional free cash flow to support the company’s offshore growth opportunities, rather than to respond to near-term oil prices. He said Murphy has seen improving well performance and strong free cash flow from the asset over recent years. The company’s Eagle Ford program is primarily focused on lower and upper Eagle Ford locations, with Austin Chalk wells included only selectively in portions of its Karnes acreage. Murphy did not provide a formal 2027 capital budget. Hambly said spending next year will likely exceed $1.25 billion and could move toward the high end of, or slightly above, the company’s historical $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion capital range before considering potentially additive Bubale appraisal spending. Second-quarter production averaged 169,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, above the midpoint of Murphy’s guidance. Performance was led by Tupper Montney and continued outperformance in the Eagle Ford, Hambly said. The company generated $110 million of free cash flow during the quarter, paid $50 million in dividends and ended the period with leverage below 1x and approximately $2.5 billion of liquidity. Murphy expects to generate positive free cash flow for the full year at current commodity prices, even with the revised capital program. Hambly said the company’s capital-allocation priorities remain unchanged: invest in assets to maintain or grow scale, pay its dividend, protect the balance sheet and repurchase shares when management believes the stock trades materially below intrinsic value. He said Murphy may have periods of modest or negative companywide free cash flow before first oil from Hai Su Vang or potentially Bubale, but added that the company is prepared to use liquidity when necessary while maintaining a strong balance-sheet position. Looking beyond its current programs, Murphy expects to explore one or two wells in the Gulf of Mexico next year and continue activity in Vietnam. The company said its recently added positions in Morocco, Cameroon and Mauritania are at earlier stages, with near-term work expected to center on studies and seismic reprocessing rather than drilling. Murphy Oil Corporation is an independent upstream oil and gas company engaged in the exploration, development and production of crude oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids. The company's operations encompass conventional onshore and offshore reservoirs, with an emphasis on liquids-rich properties and deepwater assets. Through a combination of proprietary technologies and strategic joint ventures, Murphy Oil seeks to optimize recovery rates and manage its portfolio to balance long-term resource development with operational flexibility. Murphy Oil's exploration and production activities are geographically diversified. This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to [email protected]. The article "Murphy Oil Q2 Earnings Call Highlights" was originally published by MarketBeat. View MarketBeat's top stocks for August 2026.

Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. PAA reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of 41 cents per unit, which surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 40 cents by 2.5%. The bottom line also increased 13.9% from the year-ago quarter’s 36 cents.The company reported GAAP earnings of $2.51 per unit compared with 21 cents in the year-ago period. Net sales of $17.69 billion beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $14.68 billion by 20.5%. The top line also increased 66.3% from the year-ago quarter’s figure of $10.64 billion. Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. Quote Total costs and expenses were $17.3 billion, up 66.3% year over year. Purchases and related costs increased 69.7% to $16.56 billion, while field operating costs rose to $328 million from $286 million. General and administrative expenses increased to $110 million from $82 million.Operating income advanced 66.5% to $398 million. Net interest expense increased 15% to $153 million. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) attributable to PAA totaled $738 million, up 9.8% from $672 million in the prior-year quarter. Crude Oil adjusted EBITDA increased 19% year over year to $690 million. The improvement reflected contributions from the Cactus III pipeline acquisition, higher pipeline volumes, market opportunities and optimization initiatives.NGL adjusted EBITDA fell 54% year over year to $40 million, primarily because Plains closed the sale of substantially all of its Canadian NGL business on May 12, 2026. As of June 30, 2026, cash and cash equivalents were $1.06 billion compared with $0.33 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025.As of June 30, 2026, long-term debt was $8.43 billion compared with $10.7 billion as of Dec. 31, 2025.As of June 30, 2026, long-term debt-to-total book capitalization was 43% compared with 52% as of Dec. 31, 2025.PAA’s net cash provided by operating activities in the first six months of 2026 was $1.37 billion compared with $1.33 billion in the year-ago period. For 2026, Plains All American continues to expect adjusted EBITDA to be $2.88 billion. Adjusted free cash flow is anticipated to be $1.75 billion (excluding changes in assets and liabilities). PAA increased organic growth capital guidance to $400-$450 million from $350 million and reduced maintenance capital guidance to $175 million from $185 million. The company currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. CNX Resources Corporation CNX reported second-quarter 2026 operating earnings of 72 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 57 cents by 26.3%. The bottom line increased 22% from the year-ago quarter’s 59 cents. The company reported revenues of $389 million, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $413 million by 5.8%.Murphy Oil Corporation MUR reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.55 per share, up 474.1% year over year. The figure topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.51 per share by 2.7%.Revenues of $928.3 million increased 33.5% and beat the consensus estimate of $871 million by 6.5%.National Fuel Gas Company NFG reported third-quarter fiscal 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.54 per share, which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.47 by 4.8%. However, earnings declined 6.1% from $1.64 in the year-ago quarter.NFG reported sales of $537.5 million, which missed the consensus estimate of $564 million by 4.7%. However, the top line increased 1.1% from the prior-year recorded figure of $531.8 million. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Plains All American Pipeline, L.P. (PAA) : Free Stock Analysis Report CNX Resources Corporation. (CNX) : Free Stock Analysis Report Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) : Free Stock Analysis Report National Fuel Gas Company (NFG) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Constellation Energy Corporation CEG reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted operating earnings of $2.55 per share, up 33.5% year over year. The figure beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $2.36 by 8.05%, aided by the Calpine contribution and favorable market and portfolio conditions.Adjusted operating earnings increased to $920 million from $599 million a year earlier. The improvement reflected the addition of Calpine, higher capacity revenues and strong commercial performance through portfolio optimization and improved realized customer margins.GAAP earnings were $1.42 per share, down from $2.67 in the prior-year quarter, reflecting several non-GAAP adjustments. Revenues increased 23% to $7.50 billion and surpassed the consensus estimate of $7.47 billion by 0.48%. Nuclear output totaled 44,160 gigawatt-hours (GWh), down from 45,170 GWh in the year-ago quarter. Constellation Energy Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Constellation Energy Corporation Quote Total operating expenses rose 34.5% year over year to $6.93 billion. Purchased power and fuel expenses increased 28.4% to $4.02 billion, while operating and maintenance costs climbed 39.3% to $2.25 billion.Depreciation and amortization expenses advanced 74.4% to $443 million. Consequently, operating income declined 39% to $580 million from $951 million in the second quarter of 2025. Net interest expenses increased to $283 million from $118 million. Excluding Salem and the South Texas Project, CEG’s nuclear plants recorded a capacity factor of 93% compared with 94.8% a year earlier. The company experienced 86 planned refueling outage days, up from 41 days in the prior-year period.Non-refueling outage days declined to 20 from 22. The average nuclear refueling outage lasted 23 days, 40% below the 2025 industry average of 38 days. The quarter also included the successful turbine uprate at Byron Clean Energy Center’s Unit 1. Constellation Energy signed about 920 megawatts (“MW”) of long-term nuclear power purchase agreements with investment-grade customers. The contracts have an average duration of 18.5 years, begin between 2029 and 2031 and are expected to be fully ramped by 2032.The agreements include 890 MW of existing generation. A customer commitment will also support a 30-MW uprate at the Dresden Clean Energy Center. The company expects about 30% of its baseload clean-generation megawatt-hours to be covered by long-term agreements by 2032. Federal Energy Regulatory Commission approved the transfer of existing Capacity Interconnection Rights to the Crane Clean Energy Center, while the Nuclear Regulatory Commission approved the facility’s fuel license amendment. These steps support Constellation’s plan to restart Crane in 2027.CEG also agreed to sell the 606-MW Brazos Valley Energy Center to LS Power for $860 million before closing adjustments. The transaction, expected to close by year-end subject to approvals, would satisfy the final asset-sale requirement tied to the Calpine acquisition. Constellation raised its 2026 adjusted operating earnings guidance to $11.50-$12.50 per share from the prior range of $11-$12. The revised outlook assumes average diluted shares outstanding of 357 million. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 earnings per share is currently pegged at $11.72.As of June 30, 2026, cash and cash equivalents were $697 million compared with $3.64 billion at the end of 2025. Long-term debt increased to $19.11 billion from $7.25 billion. Operating cash flow for the first six months totaled $1.55 billion, while capital expenditures were $2.52 billion. The company deployed about $2.2 billion year to date toward share repurchases. Constellation has a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Murphy Oil Corporation MUR reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.55 per share, up 474.1% year over year. The figure topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.51 by 2.7%.Revenues of $928.3 million increased 33.5% and beat the consensus estimate of $871 million by 6.5%. Higher commodity prices and solid operating execution supported the results. Occidental Petroleum Corporation OXY reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $2.40 per share, surging 823.1% year over year and beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.92 by 25%. Total revenues for the second quarter were $57.1 billion, which increased from the year-ago reported figure of $47.9 billion by 27.8%. The metric lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $60.18 billion by 5.13%.Devon Energy Corporation DVN reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.57 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.30 by 20.77%. Revenues climbed 57.1% to $8.33 billion and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.18 billion by 16%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Constellation Energy Corporation (CEG) : Free Stock Analysis Report Devon Energy Corporation (DVN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Murphy Oil Corporation MUR reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.55 per share, up 474.1% year over year. The figure topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.51 per share by 2.7%.GAAP earnings were $1.59 per share compared with 16 cents in the year-ago quarter. The difference between GAAP and operating earnings was due to discontinued operations and other items affecting comparability between periods. Revenues of $928.3 million increased 33.5% and beat the consensus estimate of $871 million by 6.5%. Higher commodity prices and solid operating execution supported the results. U.S. exploration and production revenues increased 34.4% to $744 million. Canadian revenues advanced 43.1% to $183.6 million, showing that the revenue improvement extended across both major geographic businesses. Corporate contributed $0.7 million in total revenues. Murphy Oil Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Murphy Oil Corporation Quote Murphy realized $99.14 per barrel of oil in the quarter, its highest level since 2022 and up 37% sequentially. Gas prices dipped seasonally this quarter, and gas prices realized $1.76 per thousand cubic feet. Total production volumes reached 169,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (Boe/d), at the upper end of guidance level of 161,000-169,000 Boe/d. Oil production totaled 85,300 barrels per day. The onshore business produced 103,800 Boe/d, including 39,100 Boe/d from the Eagle Ford Shale, 58,100 Boe/d from Tupper Montney and 6,600 Boe/d from Kaybob Duvernay. Murphy brought six operated Eagle Ford wells and four Kaybob Duvernay wells online during the quarter.Offshore production totaled about 65,000 Boe/d. The Gulf of America contributed 57,100 Boe/d, while offshore Canada produced 7,900 Boe/d. In the Gulf of America, Chinook #8 completed drilling and moved into completion activity, with first production expected in the fourth quarter of 2026. Total costs and expenses fell 4.9% year over year to $573.6 million. Lease operating expenses declined to $143.7 million from $215.6 million, offsetting higher exploration costs of $39.3 million compared with $10.4 million a year earlier.Lease operating expense, excluding noncontrolling interest, averaged $8.83 per BOE. Selling and general expenses rose to $38.7 million from $36.9 million. Interest expenses were $24.9 million, down 0.8% year over year. The Bubale-1X well offshore Côte d'Ivoire discovered oil across 100 feet of net pay in two reservoirs. Murphy subsequently started the Bubale West-1X appraisal well and expects the broader appraisal program to include as many as five wells over the next 18-24 months.In Vietnam, the Hai Su Vang appraisal program established an updated gross recoverable resource estimate of 200-300 million barrels of oil equivalents (Boe). Murphy is targeting a final investment decision by the fourth quarter of 2027. The Lac Da Vang project remains on track for first oil in the fourth quarter of 2026 after pipeline installation, topsides work and FSO mobilization progressed. In second-quarter 2026, net cash provided by continuing operations was $655.9 million, up from $358.1 million a year ago. Operating cash flow excluding working-capital changes was $588.4 million, while free cash flow totaled $110 million.As of June 30, 2026, Murphy had about $484 million in cash and cash equivalents and approximately $2.48 billion of liquidity. Total long-term debt stood at $1.55 billion. The company paid $50 million in dividends during the quarter and retained $550 million under its share repurchase authorization. For the third quarter, MUR expects production of 171,000-179,000 Boe/d and capital expenditures of $380-$460 million, excluding noncontrolling interest. Exploration expense is projected at $135 million.The company maintained full-year production guidance of 167,000-175,000 Boe/d. However, MUR raised its 2026 capital spending range to $1.5-$1.6 billion from the prior midpoint of $1.25 billion. This increase indicates appraisal spending at Bubale, accelerated Eagle Ford activity and higher Chinook #8 costs. For 2026, exploration expense is projected at $300 million. Murphy currently has a Zacks Rank # 3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Devon Energy Corporation DVN reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.57 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.30 by 20.77%. Revenues of $7.41 billion surpassed the consensus estimate of $6.29 billion by 17.81% and increased 73.1% year over year. Strong oil pricing and contributions from the Coterra Energy merger supported the results. TotalEnergies SE TTE reported second-quarter 2026 operating earnings of $2.68 (€2.31) per share, which lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.07 by 12.7%. The bottom line improved 70.7% from the year-ago figure of $1.57 (€1.38).Total revenues for the second quarter were $57.1 billion, which increased from the year-ago reported figure of $47.9 billion by 27.8%. The metric lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $60.18 billion by 5.13%.CNX Resources Corporation CNX reported second-quarter 2026 operating earnings of 72 cents per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 57 cents by 26.3%. The bottom line increased 22% from the year-ago quarter’s 59 cents.The company reported revenues of $389 million, which missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $413 million by 5.8%. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) : Free Stock Analysis Report Devon Energy Corporation (DVN) : Free Stock Analysis Report CNX Resources Corporation. (CNX) : Free Stock Analysis Report TotalEnergies SE Sponsored ADR (TTE) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

Occidental Petroleum Corporation OXY reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $2.40 per share, surging 823.1% year over year and beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.92 by 25%. Higher realized crude oil prices and a sharp improvement in Midstream and Marketing supported results. Midstream and Marketing reported adjusted pre-tax income of $961 million, exceeding the high end of the company’s guidance. The segment posted adjusted income of $196 million in the year-ago quarter.Reported earnings were $2.75 per share compared with 26 cents a year earlier. Revenues climbed 57.1% to $8.33 billion and surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $7.18 billion by 16%.Oil and Gas revenues totaled $6.88 billion, up 37.4% from $5.01 billion in the year-ago quarter. Higher commodity realizations more than offset weakness in domestic natural gas pricing.Midstream and Marketing revenues jumped 240% year over year to $1.33 billion. Interest, dividends and other income totaled $82 million compared with $43 million a year earlier. Occidental Petroleum Corporation price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Occidental Petroleum Corporation Quote Worldwide production reached 1,433 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (Mboe/d), exceeding the high end of management’s guidance of 1,390-1,430 Mboe/d. Strong domestic performance helped total production rise 2.4% year over year. Permian Resources production averaged 804 Mboe/d, up from 770 Mboe/d in the second quarter of 2025. Production from the region also exceeded the guidance of 783-803 Mboe/d.Gulf of America output rose to 144 Mboe/d from 125 Mboe/d, benefiting from strong base performance and maintenance optimization.Rockies and Other Domestic production increased to 280 Mboe/d from 272 Mboe/d. International production declined to 205 Mboe/d from 233 Mboe/d, partly reflecting disruptions in the Middle East. Occidental’s worldwide realized crude oil price increased 51.8% year over year to $96.78 per barrel. The average WTI and Brent marker prices were $92.79 and $97.06 per barrel, respectively, up from $63.74 and $66.59.Worldwide realized natural gas liquids prices advanced 19% to $24.64 per barrel. However, domestic realized natural gas prices were negative $1.48 per thousand cubic feet in contrast to a positive $1.33 in the prior-year period, limiting part of the commodity-price benefit. Total costs and other deductions declined 4% year over year to $4.55 billion. Oil and gas lease operating expenses slipped 1.6% to $1.12 billion, while transportation and gathering costs increased 3.3% to $463 million.Depreciation, depletion and amortization expenses rose 1.3% to $1.85 billion. Interest and debt expense fell 60.1% to $108 million, reflecting the company’s accelerated debt-reduction efforts. In the first half of 2026, the company brought online 256 wells in the Permian and 84 wells in the Rockies region, which boosted domestic production volumes. In the second quarter, operating cash flow from continuing operations totaled $5.09 billion. Excluding working-capital movements, operating cash flow was $4.61 billion. Capital expenditures totaled $1.59 billion, resulting in free cash flow before working capital of $3.02 billion.Occidental reduced principal debt by $1.9 billion during the quarter to $11.8 billion. The company retired $8.6 billion of debt during the first half of 2026 and ended June with $4.15 billion in cash and cash equivalents. Management also raised the quarterly dividend by 8% to 28 cents per share. For 2026, Occidental now expects total production of 1,423-1,453 Mboe/d compared with earlier expectation of 1,410-1,460 Mboe/d. The outlook includes Permian production of 801-817 Mboe/d and Gulf of America production of 132-136 Mboe/d.The company projects full-year Midstream pre-tax income of $1.3-$1.5 billion. Net capital expenditures are expected between $5.5 billion and $5.9 billion, while adjusted interest expense is forecasted at approximately $680 million. Exploration expenses are expected to be $290 million.For the third quarter of 2026, OXY expects production in the band of 1,400-1,440 Mboe/d. Output from the Permian Resources segment is anticipated at 795-8815 Mboe/d. Occidental expects international production volumes for the third quarter of 2026 to be in the range of 225-231 Mboe/d.In 2026, OXY plans to bring in between 485 and 515 wells online in the Permian and 150-170 wells in the Rockies region. Occidental currently carries a Zacks Rank #4 (Sell). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Murphy Oil Corporation MUR reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.55 per share, up 474.1% year over year. The figure topped the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.51 by 2.7%.Revenues of $928.3 million increased 33.5% and beat the consensus estimate of $871 million by 6.5%. Higher commodity prices and solid operating execution supported the results. TotalEnergies SE TTE reported second-quarter 2026 operating earnings of $2.68 (€2.31) per share, which lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $3.07 by 12.7%. The bottom line improved 70.7% from the year-ago figure of $1.57 (€1.38).Total revenues for the second quarter were $57.1 billion, which increased from the year-ago reported figure of $47.9 billion by 27.8%. The metric lagged the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $60.18 billion by 5.13%.Devon Energy Corporation DVN reported second-quarter 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.57 per share, beating the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $1.30 by 20.77%. Revenues of $7.41 billion surpassed the consensus estimate of $6.29 billion by 17.81% and increased 73.1% year over year. Strong oil pricing and contributions from the Coterra Energy merger supported the results. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Occidental Petroleum Corporation (OXY) : Free Stock Analysis Report Devon Energy Corporation (DVN) : Free Stock Analysis Report Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) : Free Stock Analysis Report TotalEnergies SE Sponsored ADR (TTE) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

For the quarter ended June 2026, Murphy Oil (MUR) reported revenue of $928.31 million, up 33.5% over the same period last year. EPS came in at $1.55, compared to $0.27 in the year-ago quarter. The reported revenue compares to the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $871.03 million, representing a surprise of +6.58%. The company delivered an EPS surprise of +2.65%, with the consensus EPS estimate being $1.51. While investors scrutinize revenue and earnings changes year-over-year and how they compare with Wall Street expectations to determine their next move, some key metrics always offer a more accurate picture of a company's financial health. Since these metrics play a crucial role in driving the top- and bottom-line numbers, comparing them with the year-ago numbers and what analysts estimated about them helps investors better project a stock's price performance. Here is how Murphy Oil performed in the just reported quarter in terms of the metrics most widely monitored and projected by Wall Street analysts: Production - Net crude oil and condensate - Barrels per day - Total: 90.75 thousands of barrels of oil per day versus the six-analyst average estimate of 87.92 thousands of barrels of oil per day. Production - Net natural gas liquids - Barrels per day - Total: 11.32 thousands of barrels of oil per day versus the five-analyst average estimate of 10.16 thousands of barrels of oil per day. Production - Net natural gas - cubic feet per day - Total: 437.71 millions of cubic feet per day versus 421.92 millions of cubic feet per day estimated by five analysts on average. Production - Total net hydrocarbons - excluding NCI: 169.00 KBOE/D compared to the 167.60 KBOE/D average estimate based on five analysts. Production - Net natural gas - cubic feet per day - Onshore - United States: 32.86 millions of cubic feet per day versus the three-analyst average estimate of 31.29 millions of cubic feet per day. Production - Net natural gas - cubic feet per day - Offshore - United States: 49.18 millions of cubic feet per day versus 45.64 millions of cubic feet per day estimated by three analysts on average. Production - Net natural gas liquids - Barrels per day - Offshore - United States: 3.98 thousands of barrels of oil per day versus 3.88 thousands of barrels of oil per day estimated by three analysts on average. Production - Net natural gas liquids - Barrels per day - Onshore - United States: 6.77 thousands of barrels of oil per day compared to the 5.61 thousands of barrels of oil per day average estimate based on three analysts. Revenues- Exploration and production- Canada: $183.6 million versus $182.09 million estimated by three analysts on average. Compared to the year-ago quarter, this number represents a +43.1% change. Revenues- Exploration and production- United States: $744 million compared to the $676.51 million average estimate based on three analysts. The reported number represents a change of +34.4% year over year. Revenues and other income- Revenue from sales to customers- Total: $926.33 million compared to the $862.97 million average estimate based on three analysts. The reported number represents a change of +35.6% year over year. Revenues and other income- Revenue from sales to customers- Revenue from production: $926.33 million compared to the $877.33 million average estimate based on three analysts. The reported number represents a change of +35.6% year over year. View all Key Company Metrics for Murphy Oil here>>> Shares of Murphy Oil have returned +16.7% over the past month versus the Zacks S&P 500 composite's +3.5% change. The stock currently has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), indicating that it could perform in line with the broader market in the near term. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report Murphy Oil Corporation (MUR) : Free Stock Analysis Report This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com). Zacks Investment Research

This article first appeared on GuruFocus. Production: Averaged 169,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Q2 2026, above the midpoint of guidance. Free Cash Flow: Generated $110 million in the quarter. Shareholder Returns: Returned $50 million to shareholders through dividends. Leverage: Maintained leverage below one times. Liquidity: Ended the quarter with approximately $2.5 billion in liquidity. Capital Expenditures: Increased 2026 midpoint estimate from $1.25 billion to $1.55 billion. Eagle Ford Investment: Additional $70 million allocated, expected to add approximately 5,000 to 6,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2027. Bubal Discovery Spend: Roughly $190 million related to Bubal, including $100 million incremental on the discovery well and $90 million for the first appraisal well. Hai Su Vang Resource Estimate: Revised to a material 200 to 300 million barrels of oil equivalent opportunity. Vietnam Peak Production Outlook: Remains unchanged at 30,000 to 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day. Warning! GuruFocus has detected 3 Warning Sign with MUR. Is MUR fairly valued? Test your thesis with our free DCF calculator. Release Date: August 06, 2026 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript. Murphy Oil Corp (NYSE:MUR) announced the Bubal discovery in Cote d'Ivoire, encountering oil in both Turonian and Centimanian reservoirs, with potential to become a significant growth driver. The company increased its 2026 capital expenditure midpoint to $1.55 billion, with nearly all of the increase supporting organic growth, including $190 million for Bubal appraisal and $70 million for Eagle Ford acceleration. Murphy Oil Corp (NYSE:MUR) generated $110 million of free cash flow in Q2 2026, returned $50 million to shareholders via dividends, and maintained leverage below 1x with approximately $2.5 billion in liquidity. Second-quarter production averaged 169,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, above the midpoint of guidance, driven by strong performance in Tupper Montney and Eagle Ford. The company expects to generate positive free cash flow for the full year 2026 even with the revised capital program, and the Eagle Ford acceleration is expected to add 5,000-6,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in 2027. Murphy Oil Corp (NYSE:MUR) maintains a strong balance sheet and capital allocation framework, prioritizing investments, dividends, and balance sheet strength, with flexibility to adjust spending as needed. Murphy Oil Corp (NYSE:MUR) reported that the Hai Su Vong 4X well in Vietnam was a dry hole, leading to a reduction in the resource estimate for the Hai Su Vong field. The company's exploration program in Cote d'Ivoire faced setbacks, with the first two wells being non-commercial before the Bubal discovery, highlighting the inherent risks in exploration. The revised capital program increases 2026 capital expenditure midpoint from $1.25 billion to $1.55 billion, which may pressure near-term free cash flow and could lead to periods of negative free cash flow. Murphy Oil Corp (NYSE:MUR) faces uncertainty in 2027 capital spending, with a potentially higher CapEx range driven by Bubal appraisal results, which could be materially higher than recent levels. The Hai Su Vong resource estimate revision may impact the company's Vietnam growth outlook, with peak production potentially closer to the lower end of the 30,000-50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day range. The company's exploration and appraisal activities in West Africa (Morocco, Cameroon, Mauritania) are in early stages, with potential for higher capital requirements later in the decade, though not yet a near-term concern. Q: Eric, can you provide an update on the next steps for Hai Su Vang (HSV) following the dry hole at the 4X well, and what needs to happen to reach a Final Investment Decision (FID) in 2027?A: Eric Hambly (President & CEO): We are disappointed with the 4X result, but HSV remains a material 200-300 million barrel opportunity, roughly two to three times the size of Lac Da Vang. The appraisal program gave us critical insights to calibrate the field development plan. We are evaluating development options, including an FPSO or a processing platform with wellhead platforms tied to an FSO, similar to Lac Da Vang. We will work with partners on approvals and target a board FID in Q4 2027. The Vietnam peak production outlook of 30,000-50,000 BOE/d remains unchanged, though we may come in closer to the lower end. Q: What is the concept for the Bubal West 1X appraisal well, and what will govern the next steps in the appraisal program, which could include up to five wells?A: Eric Hambly (President & CEO): The Bubal West 1X well is moving downdip in the Turonian reservoir. Its main objective is to test for continuity and variability of reservoir sands and to prove a deeper oil level than what was found in the discovery well. We are intentionally targeting this well to gain high confidence that we have a commercial resource. The results will shape the scope of the remaining appraisal program, which is a staged, data-driven process over the next 18-24 months to right-size the development and avoid overbuilding. Q: Can you unpack the decision to pull forward activity in the Eagle Ford and the expected returns on the incremental $70 million in CapEx?A: Eric Hambly (President & CEO): The decision is not a reaction to price but a deliberate move to fund high-value organic growth. The Eagle Ford has shown increasingly strong well performance and generates strong free cash flow even in low-price environments. Investing more there will generate incremental free cash flow next year and through the end of the decade, helping fund the appraisal of Bubal. It is the best place to scalably add oily production with strong returns, and we expect to lean into it further to support our growth opportunities. Q: With the revised 2026 CapEx plan of $1.5-$1.6 billion, what should we use as a placeholder for 2027 CapEx?A: Eric Hambly (President & CEO): We don't have a specific number for 2027 yet. Expect us to increase spending slightly more in the Eagle Ford, which alone would put our base program at the high end of the previous $1.2-$1.3 billion range or slightly above. Spending on Bubal will be additive. The final number will be materially driven by results from the Bubal West 1X well. If we keep finding oil, we'll likely keep spending; if fewer wells are needed, we'll spend less. It will be higher than $1.25 billion, but the exact figure is uncertain. Q: Can you clarify what was found in the HSV 3X and 4X wells and what gives you confidence you don't need to test further downdip?A: Eric Hambly (President & CEO): The 3X well tested lateral extension to the Northeast for sand continuity and quality. The 4X well tested an expanded reservoir section for a potentially deeper oil-water contact. The results showed reservoir thickness was not as extensive as expected across the structure, which tightened the resource estimate. In the 4X well, the target interval had low quality and no net pay, so the issue was limited reservoir extent, not the oil-water contact. With the reservoir now bounded by four wells, we have high confidence in a developable resource and will move forward with a field development plan. Q: How should we think about the balance sheet and shareholder returns during this period of higher spending?A: Eric Hambly (President & CEO): Our capital allocation framework is unchanged: prioritize investing in assets to maintain or grow scale, pay the dividend, focus on the balance sheet, and occasionally do buybacks. We may have periods of modest or negative free cash flow between now and first oil at HSV or potential Bubal development. We are not afraid to use liquidity but will protect a strong balance sheet. The dividend is core, and we will maintain it. If the share price is significantly out of whack with intrinsic value, we will be active in buybacks. Q: What is the longer-term exploration outlook in Vietnam, and will the asset self-fund future exploration once Lac Da Vang is online?A: Eric Hambly (President & CEO): We are currently drilling the Lac Tha Trong North 1X well with a pre-drill mean of 40-80 million barrels. Success would set up a tie-back to Lac Da Vang infrastructure. Once Lac Da Vang comes online in Q4, revenue will recover historical costs and fund future exploration. We have significant remaining prospectivity on Blocks 15-1B and 15-2B, which we will test between now and the end of the decade. We need to find about 8-10 million barrels for an economic tie-back, so a 40-80 million barrel find would be very value-creating and maintain a long production plateau. Q: Is the increased Eagle Ford investment dependent on higher oil prices, and what is the breakeven where it stops generating incremental free cash flow?A: Eric Hambly (President & CEO): The decision is not driven by near-term higher oil prices. It is based on the asset's ability to generate strong free cash flow across a significant range of oil prices. If oil dropped below $50 for a year, we would likely pull back investment in many places, including the Eagle Ford. However, at price levels seen over the last three years, the investment makes sense due to increasingly strong well performance. We are investing to generate more free cash flow to fund our organic growth portfolio. Q: Can you provide color on the expected production ramp for Vietnam, specifically Lac Da Vang, into 2027?A: Eric Hambly (President & CEO): We will have limited production contribution this year due to Q4 first oil. By the end of 2027, Lac Da Vang net production should be in the 5,000-9,000 barrels per day range. As we continue drilling development wells through 2028 and 202 For the complete transcript of the earnings call, please refer to the full earnings call transcript.

Our analysts just identified a stock with the potential to be the next Nvidia. Tell us how you invest and we'll show you why it's our #1 pick. Tap here. The Bubale discovery in Côte d'Ivoire validates a disciplined three-well exploration thesis, encountering oil in both Turonian and Cenomanian reservoirs. Management is initiating a staged 18-to-24-month appraisal program at Bubale to rightsize development and avoid overcapitalization before resource scale is confirmed. The Hai Su Vang-4X appraisal well in Vietnam was a dry hole due to limited reservoir extent, leading to a resource estimate reduction to 200 million to 300 million barrels of oil equivalent. Despite the Vietnam revision, peak production targets of 30,000 to 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day remain unchanged, though likely toward the lower end of that range. Capital expenditure guidance for 2026 increased to $1.55 billion to fund high-value organic growth, specifically for Côte d'Ivoire appraisal and Eagle Ford acceleration. The Eagle Ford is being utilized as a flexible, high-return cash flow engine to fund long-cycle offshore growth while maintaining a leverage ratio below 1x. The 2027 capital program is expected to exceed the historical $1.2 billion to $1.3 billion range to accommodate Bubale appraisal and increased Eagle Ford activity. Vietnam's Lac Da Vang project is on track for first oil in Q4 2026, with net production expected to reach 5,000 to 9,000 barrels per day by late 2027. Final Investment Decision (FID) for the Hai Su Vang project in Vietnam is targeted for Q4 2027 following further engineering and facility concept studies. Exploration strategy for 2027 will focus on the Gulf of America and Vietnam's Block 15-1/05, while new entries in Morocco and Cameroon remain in low-cost study phases. Management maintains a commitment to the base dividend and will utilize the balance sheet and liquidity as necessary to fund the expanded organic opportunity set. Dry hole costs for Côte d'Ivoire appraisal wells have been revised upward from $65 million to $90 million based on slower-than-anticipated penetration rates in the Turonian section. The resource revision at Hai Su Vang reflects lower reservoir quality in the southwest extension, though the field remains 2 to 3 times the size of the Lac Da Vang project. The company maintains approximately $2.5 billion in liquidity and expects to remain free cash flow positive for the full year 2026 despite the increased capital program. One stock. Nvidia-level potential. 30M+ investors trust Moby to find it first. Get the pick. Tap here. Management is evaluating either an FPSO or a processing platform with wellhead platforms similar to the Lac Da Vang concept. The 4X dry hole was due to reservoir thickness and quality limitations rather than a missing oil-water contact, providing confidence in the current bounded resource estimate. The decision is driven by the asset's ability to generate strong free cash flow across a wide range of oil prices, not just a reaction to near-term pricing. Increased Eagle Ford spending in late 2026 is intended to provide the financial flexibility to fund the multi-year appraisal of the Bubale discovery. The well targets the Turonian reservoir down-dip to test for sand continuity, variability, and a deeper oil level than the discovery well. Success in this well would provide high confidence in the commerciality of the project, though the upper end of the resource range would remain unbounded.