it should be another good year for energy stocks according to goldman sachs the sector outperformed the s  p 500 by 78 in 2022 and while it is unlikely there will be a repeat of that magnitude the backdrop is still constructive for energy equities analyst neil mehta said in a note tuesday we see brent in a multiyear 80100b range above the forward curve the equities sweet spot and see companyspecific drivers around capital returns project developments and execution to drive healthy upsidedownside dispersion he wrote xle 1y mountain energy select sector spdr funds strong performance goldmans bottomup price targets imply 13 marketcap weighted total return to the energy stocks it covers the firms buyrated stocks have an implied 26 average total return investors should keep their eye on pullbacks in the space mehta said there were three both in 2021 and 2022 and he would not be surprised if there would be a similar frequency this year that said each pullback created an attractive entry point for investors who may have missed the early innings of the rally he wrote of the stocks goldman rates a buy several have upside north of 40 to the firms price targets here are 10 names on its buy list the stocks with the highest total return are antero resources and cheniere energy  both at 48 according to goldman sachs antero resources gained a whopping 77 in 2022 and was down nearly 9 so far this year natural gas exporter cheniere energy gained nearly 28 in 2022 but so far is down around 5 since the start of the year cheniere was also named a top conviction pick for 2023 by ubs in december thanks to its exposure to the undersupplied liquid natural gas industry meanwhile energy services will offer the best earningspershare growth in 2023 mehta said in this space he likes slb  halliburton and especially baker hughes  given sharp performance riskreward looks particularly compelling for bkr from current levels as we move into 2023 he wrote baker hughes gained nearly 23 last year among the supermajors mehta prefers exxon mobil and conocophillips over chevron  in an interview with cnbcs brian sullivan thursday mehta praised ceo ryan lance  he said under lances leadership the company became more growth oriented fixed its balance sheet and acquired concho resources in 2020 conocophillips is now the best major in the world mehta said shares rallied 63 in 2022 cnbcs michael bloom contributed reporting