Imperial Oil

Imperial Oil is the kind of energy company that lives on upstream production, refining and fuel marketing, so it matters most to investors and drivers rather than to anyone looking for a clean story. By our assessment, its strength is the familiar one of an integrated oil business: it can make money across several parts of the chain instead of betting on one well or one pump. The downside is equally familiar, because it remains tied to crude prices, refining margins and the politics of carbon-heavy fuel. In practice that means a company with a hard, cyclical feel: good years can be very good, and weak years quickly remind you that petroleum is a commodity business. Compared with pure explorers, Imperial Oil is steadier; compared with renewables, it is much more exposed to the old energy economy. The Astrina catalogue places it in Canada, and that fits a business whose value still comes from oil and fuel.