More than 12 oil stocks set highs
By Lisa Sanders, MarketWatch
Last Update: 6/15/2005 4:42:32 PM
DALLAS (MarketWatch) - Spurred by gains in the price of crude and natural gas, more than a dozen oil stocks set 52-week highs at Wednesday's close.
Those stocks were Transocean (RIG), Baker Hughes (BHI), Noble Corp. (NE), Cooper Cameron (CAM), GlobalSantaFe (GSF), ConocoPhillips (COP), Amerada Hess (AHC), Marathon Oil (MRO), Occidental Petroleum (OXY), Sunoco (SUN), Burlington Resources (BR), EOG Resources (EOG), Tesoro Petroleum (TSO), Frontier Oil (FTO) and Questar Corp. (STR).
On Wednesday, the Energy Department said U.S. supplies of petroleum fell nearly 2 million barrels in the last week.
The Energy Department said crude supplies fell 1.8 million barrels in the week ended June 10. At 329 million barrels, the inventories are well above the upper end of the average range for this time of year.
Crude futures rallied even ahead of the data, as OPEC said it would increase production quotas by 500,000 barrels a day.
"This morning's announcement by OPEC is no more than a gesture and has little practical impact on the overall situation, and the markets know this," said Kevin Kerr, president of Kerr Trading International. "If today's [U.S. supply] numbers are bullish, as we expect they may be, we could see a key technical level ... breached and then a run toward $60."
July crude closed at $55.57 a barrel, up 57 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. See Futures Movers.
The Amex Oil Index (XOI) rose 1% to close at 881.98 points, and the Amex Natural Gas Index (XNG) gained 0.7% to close at 347.10 points. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index (OSX) was up 1.4% to close at 145.72 points.
Shares in Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM) rose 70 cents to close at $59.25. The company confirmed late Tuesday that Philip Cooney, a White House official who resigned last week, would join Exxon Mobil in the fall. See full story.
Lisa Sanders is a reporter for MarketWatch in Dallas. |
