Hess (HES) (KOG) (HNR) (ROSE) Close Mixed as Oil Prices Pull Back

Oil prices should keep climbing toward the highs of 2008 as growing demand isn't matched by additional supplies and the price jump has been slow to cut into consumption, as Rosetta Resources (NASDAQ::ROSE), Harvest Natural Resources (NYSE:HNR), Kodiak Oil & Gas (Amex:KOG) and Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES) closed mixed Monday, April 25.

The front-month Brent crude-oil futures contract, the London benchmark, pulled back from a 2½-year high of $127 a barrel on April 11, amid concerns that soaring prices are hurting demand. It settled at $123.66 a barrel on Monday, up 5.4 percent so far in April. The front-month June contract on the New York Mercantile Exchange pulled back one cent to $112.28, still up 5.2 percent this month and 23 percent in 2011.

Benchmark crude for June delivery dropped a penny to settle at $112.28 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. In London, Brent crude fell 33 cents to settle at $123.66 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.

In other Nymex trading, heating oil was down 1.73 cents to settle at $3.1989 a gallon and gasoline futures increased a little less than a penny to settle at $3.2785 a gallon. Natural gas dropped 2.3 cents to $4.389 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Tesoro (TSO) (UPL) (VLO) (STR) Close Down as Oil, Gas Prices Fall

With anticipation the demand for crude oil and gasoline will drop because of high prices, Ultra Petroleum (NYSE:UPL), Tesoro Corporation (NYSE:TSO), Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR) and Valero Energy (NYSE:VLO) all closed down Monday, as the overall sector was under pressure.

Crude-oil futures dropped Monday as investors were worried about the possibility for slowing demand for oil after debt-ratings company Standard & Poor’s slashed its outlook on the U.S. government’s credit rating which resulted in a move away from stocks and growth-leveraged commodities.

Benchmark light, sweet crude for May delivery fell $2.54, or 2.3%, to $107.12 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. That ended a three-day winning streak for oil.

Gasoline for May delivery on Monday was down 4 cents, or 1.1%, to $3.25 a gallon.

May heating oil fell 4 cents, or 1.3%, to $3.18 a gallon.

May natural gas was lower by 7 cents, or 1.6%, to $4.14 per million British thermal units.

Valero Energy closed Monday at $27.08, down $0.46, or 1.67 percent. Questar Corporatio ended the day at $16.79, falling $0.34, or 1.98 percent. Tesoro Corporation closed at $26.08, dropping $0.46, or 1.73 percent. Ultra Petroleum closed at $47.369, losing $0.76, or 1.58 percent.

Hess (HES) (PBR) (PTR) (STR) Crushed as Oil Corrects

A general correction in commodities prices as a result of the plunge in oil prices pressured the energy sector, with Hess Corporation (NYSE:HES), Petrobras (NYSE:PBR), PetroChina (NYSE:PTR) and Questar Corporation (NYSE:STR) all closing down Tuesday.

Crude oil prices for May delivery dropped as much as 63 cents, or 0.6 percent, to $105.62 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract was at $106.01 at 10:14 a.m. Sydney time. Yesterday, it dropped $3.67 to $106.25. Prices fell 5.9 percent on April 11 and 12.

The U.S. increased its crude-oil price estimate for 2011 to an average $106.38 a barrel from $101.77 in March, according to the Energy Department’s Short-Term Energy Outlook.

Questar Corporation closed Tuesday at $16.66, falling $0.55, or 3.20 percent. PetroChina closed at $148.64, down $7.80, or 4.99 percent. Petrobras closed at $38.21, dropping $1.62, or 4.07 percent. Hess Corporation ended the session at $80.31, declining $1.47, or 1.80 percent.

Exxon (XOM), Chevron (CVX) Pulling Dow Down

Shares of Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) are weighing on the Dow today, as they tumbled with crude oil prices falling by over 3 percent to just over $106 a barrel.

This wasn't an unexpected correction, as oil prices had ended last week over $112.79 a barrel, a two-year high.

After recent massive rise in prices in the commodity sector in general, they have also been pressed down today, taking a breather. Both copper and silver dropped from recent highs.

Chevron was trading at $104.60, falling $3.18, or 2.95 percent, as of 2:36 PM EDT. Exxon Mobil was at $83.15, down $2.01, or 2.36 percent.

Caterpillar (CAT), Chevron (CVX), Exxon Mobil (XOM) Support Dow on Otherwise Dismal Day

The performance of the Dow Jones Industrial Average would have been much worse than it was yesterday after shares of General Electric (NYSE:GE) and the Walt Disney (NYSE:DIS) company pulled the Dow down, as later in the session Caterpillar (NYSE:CAT), Chevron (NYSE:CVX) and Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM) moved up to offer some support to the index.

Chevron and Exxon moved up as the price of oil rose to over $101 a barrel. The energy sector was the only category ending Monday in the black, as crude prices rose.

Many other sectors and companies have significant exposure in Japan, including insurers like Aflac (NYSE:AFL) and uranium companies like Cameco (NYSE:CCJ).

Caterpillar closed Monday at $102.10, gaining $2.08, or 2.08 percent. Chevron closed at $100.80, up $0.87, or 0.87 percent. Exxon ended the session at $82.38, up $0.26, or 0.32 percent.

Oil Prices Today Surge on Libyan Turmoil

Mounting concerns over Libya's violent crisis weighed on stocks Tuesday and sent oil prices surging, while the earthquake in the New Zealand city of Christchurch pushed the country's currency sharply lower.

With deep rifts opening up in Moammar Gadhafi's regime, air force pilots defecting and a bloody crackdown in the capital of Tripoli, investors are fretting over how the crisis will end and what the impact on the North African country's oil production will be.

Libya is the world's 18th largest oil producer, pumping out around 1.8 million barrels a day, or a little under 2 percent of global daily output. The OPEC country also sits atop the biggest oil reserves in the whole of Africa.

With so much uncertainty surrounding a large chunk of the world's daily oil production, market prices surged. Benchmark crude for March delivery was up $4.80 a barrel, or 5.6 percent, at $92.55 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, it had it had been even higher above $94 a barrel.





Source: AP