Thursday, April 14, 2011

BP (NYSE:BP) (RIG) (CVX) (HES) Close Mixed as Crude Prices Rebound

Shares of oil and energy companies like BP (NYSE:BP), Transocean (NYSE:RIG), Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) closed mixed Wednesday, as crude oil prices rebounded after two days of trading down.

Crude-oil futures were up Wednesday, gaining strength after a period of weakness midway through the day as investors focused on a supply report and hefty gains for gasoline futures.

Crude for May delivery was up 86 cents, or 0.8%, to settle at $107.11 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Futures ended a two-day losing streak that had slashed almost 6 percent from prices on Friday.

The Energy Information Administration said crude oil inventories rose 1.6 million barrels for the week ended April 8.

The EIA reported a drop in gasoline inventories of 7 million barrels. Distillates supplies were down 2.7 million barrels.

Both figures showed deeper declines than projected. Analysts were looking for a decrease of 1.3 million for gasoline and unchanged stocks of distillates, which include diesel and heating oil.

Gasoline for May delivery increased 8 cents to $3.24 a gallon, also ending a two-session losing run and reaching the highest prices since Friday.

May heating oil was up 3 cents, or 1 percent, to $3.20 a gallon.

Hess Corporation closed Wednesday at $79.67, gaining $0.64, or 0.80 percent. Chevron closed at $103.81, down $0.37, or 0.36 percent. Transocean closed at $78.36, falling $1.15, or 1.45 percent. BP ended the day at $45.40, jumping $0.10, or 0.22 percent.

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