"Big Oil" companies, referring to the world's largest oil and gas majors, still face significant challenges and uncertainties, however. These include the remarkable success of shareholder activism in recent months, a "tremendous degree" of ongoing investor skepticism and intensifying pressure to massively reduce fossil fuel use in order to meet the demands of the climate emergency. "Europe's integrated oil sector already enjoyed surprisingly strong earnings in 1Q, but 2Q is set to show further improvement as commodity prices took another step up," analysts at Morgan Stanley said in a research note. International benchmark Brent crude futures rose to an average of $69 a barrel in the second quarter, the Wall Street bank said, up from an average of $61 in the first three months of the year. The oil contract was last seen trading at around $73.57.