BP weakens in face of Washington hearings, spill saga
By Steve Gelsi, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) -- Energy stocks rose on Tuesday, as Big Oil executives appeared in Washington to make their plea for the Obama administration to reinstate deep water drilling in the Gulf of Mexico and elsewhere.
Shifting the blame for the Deepwater Horizon spill to BP PLC (BP 30.62, -0.05, -0.16%) , executives from Exxon Mobil (XOM 61.89, +0.52, +0.84%) , Chevron (CGX 45.85, +0.46, +1.01%) , Royal Dutch Shell (RDS.A 53.40, +1.02, +1.95%) and ConocoPhillips (COP 53.66, +0.86, +1.63%) defended their safety procedures in deep water drilling projects and emphasized the need to produce oil in U.S. waters.
Energy stocks also drew strength from the broad market, where the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA 10,288, +97.57, +0.96%) rose 84 points.
The NYSE Arca Oil Index (XOI 955.85, +15.26, +1.62%) rose 1.3% to 953. The NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index (XNG 538.87, +10.30, +1.95%) rose 1.5% to 537. The Philadelphia Oil Service Index (OSX 175.68, +4.09, +2.38%) rose 1.7% to 175.
BP PLC (BP 30.65, -0.02, -0.07%) fell 1.7% to $30.14 on continued woes tied to the Deepwater Horizon spill, ahead of hearings this week on Capitol Hill as well as meetings between executives and President Barack Obama.
Among stocks in the spotlight, Patriot Coal Corp. (PCX 16.31, -0.57, -3.38%) fell 5% to $16.01. The company said its second-quarter earnings would be impacted by a roof collapse at its Harris mine. No injuries resulted from the accident.
