Oil is still above $110 a barrel, and many expect it to stay above $100 through the end of the year. So which energy-saving stocks sell more of their products when fuel is expensive? Katana kept 387 companies whose annual reports mention energy saving, fuel switching and similar terms, and AI read each one and supported 4.
With disruption around the Strait of Hormuz dragging on, oil prices remain high. Brent crude was $113.72 a barrel on October 27. Even after falling more than $2 on hopes for Middle East peace talks, it stayed well above $100. October was the worst month yet for attacks on commercial shipping in and around the strait.
Forecasts stay high, too. UBS raised its year-end forecast from $100 to about $110. BMI expects Brent to average above $100 in October–December and above $110 in January–March next year, even assuming the US and Iran agree early next year to reopen the strait.
In Japan, the national average gasoline price was ¥170.2 a liter on October 19. That price is held down by a ¥42.8 subsidy; without it, gasoline would cost ¥213.2. The subsidy is under consideration for a gradual cut from December.
Some companies describe expensive energy as a tailwind. In its latest annual report, ENDO Lighting wrote that rising electricity rates helped its sales in Japan. In April–June 2026, after oil spiked, its sales rose 3.8% and operating profit 16.7%.
When people think of companies that gain from high oil prices, oil producers and refiners come first, because the price of what they sell goes up. But that gain rises and falls with the price of oil.
There is another kind of product that gets easier to sell when fuel is expensive: equipment that cuts fuel and power use. Energy-saving equipment pays for itself through the fuel it saves, so the higher the fuel price, the sooner it pays back and the stronger the reason to buy.
So we used Katana to find companies whose core business is cutting customers' fuel and power use, and whose annual reports say that rising energy prices increase demand for it.
“We want companies whose products or services are mainly meant to cut customers' use or cost of oil, fuel, gas or electricity, that make up a large part of their revenue, and whose annual reports say that higher energy prices raise demand for them.”
Claude built and ran the screen through Katana's MCP connection. We used word conditions to keep companies whose annual reports mention energy saving (省エネ), fuel switching (燃料転換), heat pumps (ヒートポンプ), insulation (断熱) or waste heat (排熱), turned this profile into two questions entered in English, and had the AI read each report, question by question. Run and data as of October 28, 2026.
Katana computes its metrics for every company.
AI reads each annual report and judges support and counterevidence.
The questions were entered in English and judged in order.
read the filings and supported 4.
Of 387 companies, 4 were supported, 61 need review and 322 had counterevidence. The 4 supported companies come first, followed by the 6 we added from those needing review.
Rising electricity rates and social demands for sustainability were a tailwind in Japan; sales rose 3.2% to ¥55.5 billion.Filing ↗
In the US, where 10 million water heaters sell each year, rising energy costs and stricter state rules are lifting demand for more efficient water heaters.Filing ↗
To avoid rising energy costs, interest in on-site solar power and corporate power purchase agreements rose quickly among companies of every kind.Filing ↗
Uncertainty over energy prices is rising, and demand for curbing energy costs and using energy efficiently is growing.Filing ↗
Audits factories' energy use and wins orders to design and build energy-saving equipment such as cogeneration and fuel-switching systems.Filing ↗
In commercial air conditioning, it stepped up energy-saving proposals to government buildings, factories and green buildings.Filing ↗
Overseas, it will step up proposals for boilers that reduce environmental impact and energy-saving sales.Filing ↗
Heat-pump heat sources and whole-house air conditioning for housebuilders sold well, but European heat-pump sales were weak; air conditioning equipment fell 0.5%.Filing ↗
Makes calcium silicate insulation and also carries out the insulation work, helping customers save energy and cut CO2 emissions.Filing ↗
Work on projects including energy-saving retrofits of reheating furnaces for Japanese steelmakers progressed; plant sales rose 20.0%.Filing ↗
Note: the 6 companies we added were judged to have equipment that cuts fuel or power use as a core business, and we confirmed this in the original text. None of them says in its annual report that rising energy prices increased demand. Housebuilders such as Tama Home were also judged to meet the first question, but we did not add them, because energy efficiency is only one feature of a house.
Of the 387 companies, 47 were judged to have products that cut fuel or power use as a core business. Only 4 of them wrote in their annual reports that rising energy prices had increased demand. Most of the latest reports cover fiscal years that ended in or before March 2026, when oil spiked.
Among the companies judged to have such a core business, some describe high oil prices as a headwind: makers of heaters that burn kerosene or heavy oil.
| Company | Sells | How it describes high energy prices |
|---|---|---|
| ENDO Lighting | LED lighting | Rising power rates are a tailwind |
| Rinnai | Efficient water heaters | US demand for efficient units rising |
| GreenEnergy | On-site solar | Interest rose quickly |
| Corona | Oil heaters and water heaters | Buyers may hold off on kerosene |
| NEPON | Greenhouse heaters | Oil prices sway farmers' spending |
Corona writes that its oil heaters and water heaters burn kerosene, and that a kerosene price spike could make buyers hold off or switch to other heat sources. NEPON, which makes heaters for greenhouses, writes that because most of the fuel is oil, oil prices sway growers' willingness to invest. NEPON, too, is pushing hybrid systems that pair its heaters with electric heat pumps.
When people think of stocks that gain from high oil prices, oil producers and refiners come first. But the companies that can win more orders while fuel stays expensive are those that sell ways to use less of it. Even in heating and hot water, buyers hold off on equipment that burns kerosene or heavy oil, and demand shifts toward what cuts fuel and power use, such as efficient units, heat pumps and lighting upgrades.
Katana narrows companies with its own metrics, and AI reads annual reports to judge qualitative conditions. For complex theses and company profiles, the selection you used to do one company at a time, AI now runs across the Japanese market.
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