Everyone seems to hate oil companies today, which is one reason why many of them offer dividends with big, fat yields. The problem is that there are very real reasons to be worried about energy stocks, with bankruptcies picking up, particularly in the onshore U.S. oil space. But all oil companies aren't created equal. Some are better built to weather the ups and downs in their highly cyclical industry.
Here are three high-yield oil stocks that have proven they have what it takes to survive and keep paying out generous dividends to the intrepid investors willing to buy and hold them when others grow skittish.
ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) is probably one of the most-hated integrated oil and natural gas giants in the world because of its massive size. Though ESG investors have pushed hard to convince the energy company's management to change course, they have decided to double down on oil drilling. They are unapologetic about their plans to spend as much as $35 billion a year on capital projects like expanding onshore U.S. oil production and drilling in the waters around Guyana.