BPThe company’s (LSE: BP.) share price is currently rising. Driven by the rise in oil prices, it has risen from 460p to 546p over the past month (an augment of approximately 19%).

One broker believes that the share price could rise much higher after all. He estimates that the oil company’s shares could return more than 20% over the next 12 months.

The uptrend may have room to run

The broker I am talking about is Barclays. This morning (March 17) he raised his price target for BP shares from 590p to 650p.

The recent target price is approximately 19% higher than the current share price. If this were to occur, investors could expect a total return of around 24% next year, after factoring in dividend payments, as BP’s stock yield is almost 5%.

It’s uncomplicated to see why Barclays analysts are bullish here. Recently, the price of Brent crude oil rose above $100 a barrel, after starting the year around $60 (and it looks like oil prices may remain elevated for some time).

This is a large positive for BP. With production costs around $40 a barrel, if oil prices stay high, it will be a mint of money.

Investment opportunity?

Should investors consider buying the stock given Barclays’ bullish outlook? It really depends on what the investor wants from the stock.

For those looking for a solid blue-chip name that offers regular dividends, I think this stock is worth taking a look at. The stock seems a bit pricey today given its forward-looking price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of 14.7. However, if earnings augment due to higher oil prices, the P/E ratio will decline.

It’s worth noting that a key advantage of this stock is that it appears to be relatively immune to artificial intelligence (AI) disruption. You can’t ask Anthropic or OpenAI to generate a barrel of oil.

On the other hand, the company’s fortunes are largely tied to robust oil prices. So shares are somewhat speculative in some sense. If the conflict in Iran ends soon, we could see oil prices plummet in the miniature term. This may result in a weakening of the BP share price.

Meanwhile, in the longer term, the increasing emphasis on sustainability and renewable energy increases certain risks. We could see a drop in demand for oil, which led to a drop in prices.

Other opportunities on the market

Personally, I will not buy shares for my own portfolio. I am more of a growth investor and in my opinion there is not enough long-term growth potential.

Given my investing style, I intend to focus on other stocks that may generate higher returns in the long run. The good news is that there are plenty of opportunities now.