Top Energy Stocks
XOM -0.58%
CVX +0.14%
COP -0.10%
SLB +1.16%
OXY +0.41%
Energy stocks were ending broadly mixed this afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index climbing over 0.2% while shares of energy companies in the S&P 500 were down nearly 1.1% as a group. West Texas Intermediate crude oil for February delivery settled 72 cents higher at $45.33 per barrel in New York while the global benchmark Brent crude February contract advanced 4 cents to $52.20 per barrel. February natural gas futures fell 24 cents to $3.30 per 1 million BTU. Among energy-related ETFs, the United States Oil fund fell slightly more than 0.5% while the United States Natural Gas fund was hit with a nearly 4.7% drop. The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector index was up just under 1.0% in late trade.
Among energy stocks moving on news:
(+) Solaris Oilfield Infrastructure ( SOI ) was fractionally higher in late trade, drifting south from an earlier 2% gain. Analysts at Imperial Capital on Friday trimmed their price target for the pipeline company by $7 to $17 while retaining an outperform rating for its stock to reflect the company agreeing to lower the contracted revenue threshold and the length of the contract for its primary customer at its Kingfisher facility in exchange for a $26 million payment following the recent decline in crude oil prices .
In other sector news:
(+) Transocean ( RIG ) rose 4% on Friday after saying it signed a five-year drilling contract with Chevron ( CVX ) for a drillship now under construction in Singapore. The drilling contract has an estimated backlog of $830 million and the ship is expected to begin operations in the Gulf of Mexico during the second half of 2021.
(+) Petroleo Brasileiro ( PBR ) was 2% higher this afternoon. The Brazilian energy major, more commonly known as Petrobras, on Friday reported a 2% decline in November production compared with the prior month, falling to 2.62 million barrels of oil equivalent per day from 2.66 million barrels per day in October.
(+) Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A,RDS.B) was fractionally higher in recent trading, retracing some of an earlier gain after the company said it will begin full-scale development of unconventional oil fields in Argentina's Vaca Muerta basin.
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The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
