New York, Jan 9, 2026, 06:58 EST — Premarket
Phillips 66 (PSX) shares were up 4.6% in premarket trading Friday at $144.22, after finishing Thursday at $137.89.
The move comes as investors keep a close watch on rapid-fire U.S. policy signals around Venezuela’s oil sales, a theme that has helped buoy big refiners in recent sessions. U.S. Energy Secretary Chris Wright said Washington needs “that leverage and that control of those oil sales” to push change in Venezuela, after the administration laid out plans to steer oil-sale revenue into U.S.-controlled accounts and flagged a White House meeting with oil companies. reuters.com
For Phillips 66, Venezuela is a nuts-and-bolts issue, not just politics. CFO Kevin Mitchell said the company can process Venezuelan crude at its Lake Charles and Sweeny refineries on the U.S. Gulf Coast, with capacity for “a couple of hundred thousand” barrels per day. CEO Mark Lashier, though, warned it would take “years, if not decades” of upstream investment to tap the country’s full supply potential. reuters.com
The White House on Friday is convening major oil producers, refiners, traders and service firms to talk through investment prospects in Venezuela’s energy sector, Reuters reported. Attendees are expected to include Valero and Marathon Petroleum, but Phillips 66 was not listed among the companies expected at the meeting. reuters.com
Venezuela headlines have also rattled broader markets, pushing oil prices higher as traders tracked the latest moves. Investors were also looking ahead to Friday’s U.S. jobs report for the next macro test. reuters.com
Wall Street research has landed all over the place. Piper Sandler analyst Ryan Todd lowered his price target on Phillips 66 to $155 from $171 and kept a Neutral rating, warning a “bearish crude outlook” could make it tough for the group to outperform the broader market, even though he’s looking for a stronger refining backdrop than in 2025. TipRanks
Separately, Phillips 66 this week agreed to buy assets and infrastructure from Britain’s shuttered Lindsey oil refinery site, but said it would not restart the plant as a standalone operation, opting instead to fold parts into its nearby Humber refinery. reuters.com
On the charts, the stock is drifting back toward its 52-week high after a choppy week. Phillips 66 closed at $136.65 on Tuesday; its 52-week high is $144.96, according to MarketWatch data.
Still, the Venezuela trade comes with clear downside risk. Analysts and industry executives have warned that any rebound in output hinges on political stability and hefty, sustained capital spending, and that timeline can stretch well beyond a single quarter. reuters.com
Investors will be looking for any hard policy specifics from the White House meeting later Friday, then shifting quickly to Phillips 66’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 earnings conference call on Feb. 4.
