NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Energy stocks flattened Wednesday ahead of weekly petroleum inventory data, after oil service shares touched their highest level since October, 2008 in the previous session.
The NYSE Arca Oil Index (XOI 1,127, -2.69, -0.24%) fell fractionally to 1,129. The NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index (XNG 562.52, -0.60, -0.11%) dipped less than 0.1% to 563. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index (OSX 219.09, -0.71, -0.32%) rose 0.2% to 220. On Tuesday, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index touched 221.
Among stocks in the spotlight, Transocean Ltd. (RIG 90.66, -1.37, -1.49%) fell 1.2% to $90.86. The company reported a fire onboard its semisubmersible drilling rig Deepwater Horizon. The U.S. Coast Guard said seven workers were critically injured and up to 12 remain missing.
ConocoPhillips (COP 57.28, -0.12, -0.21%) rose 0.3% to $57.56. The oil major said it informed the Saudi Arabian Oil Company (Saudi Aramco) it will end participation in a new refinery project being built in Yanbu Industrial City. ConocoPhillips did not disclose the price tag of the project or its specific share in it.
""We ultimately decided this project was not consistent with our current strategy to reduce our downstream footprint," the company said.
Calpine Corp. (CPN 12.65, +0.48, +3.94%) rose 5% to $12.76 after it set plans to buy nearly 4,500 megawatts of power-generation assets from Pepco Holdings Inc. (POM 16.72, +0.47, +2.89%) for $1.65 billion. Shares of Pepco rose 2.8% to $16.71.
The plants in the deal are primarily natural-gas-fired facilities and renewable generation, Calpine President and Chief Executive Jack A. Fusco said in a statement.
