ExxonMobil's (XOM) Harvey-Hit Beaumont Unit May Resume Work

As per Reuters, energy major ExxonMobil’s (NYSE:XOM) Beaumont refinery will likely restart nearly all of its operating plants by this week. The Beaumont refinery is touted to be the second largest in the domestic market.

After tropical storm Harvey made a landfall in Texas, ExxonMobil was forced to shut down its Beaumont refinery on Aug 30.

Reportedly, on Sep 15, the integrated major restarted two oil distillation plants at the Beaumont refinery. Beaumont has the daily capacity to refine 362,300 barrels of liquid.

Beaumont refinery's diesel hydrotreater unit, with a capacity of 40,000 barrels a day, also came back to operation. Along with this, the refinery’s hydrocracking unit – with a capacity of 65,000 barrel per day – was restarted. By the last week of September, the 45,000-barrel per day coking plant will likely start operating at full capacity.

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

However, ExxonMobil’s pricing chart fails to impress. The company has lost 11.3% year to date versus the 2.2% decline of its industry.

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

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

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

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

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

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