Oil stocks resumed their upward trek Thursday as continued tensions in the Middle East sent crude-oil prices north of $65 a barrel.
By midday, the Amex Oil Index (XOI : 1,232.84, +9.17, +0.7% ) was ahead 0.8%, the Amex Natural Gas Index (XNG : 477.23, +2.25, +0.5% ) was up 0.3%, and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index ($OSX : 217.45, +2.39, +1.1% ) was showing a 1.2% advance.
Crude-oil for May delivery jumped $1.21 to $65.29 a barrel in New York, with concerns over the fate of 15 British naval personnel being held by Iran and what it might mean for supplies from the oil-rich Gulf building a high risk premium on the crude market. See Futures Movers.
Meanwhile, the bulls were back in the broad market, nudging the Dow Jones Industrial Average (.DJI :12,348.75, +48.39, +0.4% ) 25 points higher, putting the index on course to snap a three-day losing streak. A Commerce Department report showing the nation's economy grew at an annual pace of 2.5% in the final quarter of 2006 -- stronger than the 2.2% expected by most economists - drove gains at the open. See full story.
Dow 30 component Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM :76.24, +0.68, +0.9% ) was helping to support the rally, up 0.5% at $75.94 a share. But the big European-based oil companies were showing the biggest percentage gains in the oil group, led by BP Plc's (BP :65.76, +1.06, +1.6% ) 1.5% rise to $65.67 a share. Joining the surge, U.S.-traded shares of France's Total S.A. (TOT : 69.78, +0.65, +0.9% ) were ahead 1.5%, Spain's Repsol S.A. (REP :33.67, +0.38, +1.1% ) was up 1.1%, and Royal Dutch Shell Plc (RDSA :67.30, +0.57, +0.9% ) was up 1.1% as well.
A port strike in Marseille, now in its 16th day, is roiling the European fuel market, backing up tankers and pushing prices higher. Nearly a third of France's petroleum imports pass through Marseille.
In other news, the Federal Trade Commission approved Shell Oil's sale of its Wilmington, Calif., refinery to Tesoro Petroleum Corp. (TSO :100.58, +3.25, +3.3% ) . The $1.63 billion deal, announced in January, also includes about 250 retail gas stations in Southern California that will provide a ready outlet for products from the Los Angeles-area refinery. Tesoro shares were up 2.6% at $99.91.
Shares of Nabors Industries (NBR :29.95, -0.50, -1.6% ) were off 1.4% at $30.02, one of the few decliners in the oil service group. Before the opening bell, the oil rig operator warned that its first-quarter earnings were likely to come in at 80 cents to 85 cents a share, slightly lower than what analysts had expected, due to a drop in onshore drilling activity in North America.
