Petroleum and natural gas shares rose after a mixed weekly inventory report, but shares of oil drillers fell back on Wednesday
Gasoline supplies dropped by 3 million barrels in the week ended March 6, the Energy Information Administration reported. Analysts surveyed by Platts had expected a reduction of 1.2 million barrels.
Meanwhile, crude inventories rose by 700,000 million barrels, while analysts had expected a decline of 1 million barrels.
After the data, April crude lost $1.33, or 2.9%, to $44.38 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. See Futures Movers.
The Amex Oil Index rose 1% to 832, adding to big gains in the previous session.. U.S. refining giant Valero rose 3.2% to $17.58. Sector leader Exxon Mobil rose 0.3% to $67.56.
The Amex Natural Gas Index rose 1.1% to 319, led by a jump of 5.5% to $42.61 from Devon Energy The Philadelphia Oil Service Index fell 0.9% to 118, pulled down by a drop of 4% to $10.89 from component Weatherford
Among energy stocks in the spotlight, ConocoPhillips rose 1.4% to $38.52. The company stood by its plans to spend $12.5 billion in 2009 on capital programs. The oil giant also said it'll scale back drilling in North America along with the ret of the industry. It also disclosed a significant accumulation of acreage in the Eagleford shale in south Texas.
Chevron rose 0.8% to $62.30, a day after the oil giant said it expects to grow its production by 4% this year without acquisitions.
Halliburton plans to issue $2 billion in senior notes in two tranches. Shares fell 1.5% to $16.10.
Transocean rose 1% to $53.86. Citi added the drill ship specialist to its Top Picks Live list. Schlumberger fell 1.8% to $38.31. Cameron International dipped 1.8% to $19.89. Citi downgraded both of the stocks to hold from buy.
Shares of state-turn Petrobras rose 0.9% to $29. Brazil president Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva said in an interview with The Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires that he continues to see a big role for industry heavyweights such as ExxonMobil and Royal Dutch Shell as the company develops its offshore oil discoveries.
