Oil and gas stocks settled back into a narrow trading range midday Wednesday, giving back gains fueled earlier by moderately bullish data on U.S. petroleum supplies.
The Amex Oil Index ($XOI :1,253.78, +4.55, +0.4% ) , after touching an all-time high of 1,260 points, fell back to a 0.1% gain at 1,252. The Amex Natural Gas Index ($XNG : 495.75, -0.23, 0.0% ) slid to a 0.2% loss, as did the Philadelphia Oil Service Index ($OSX 224.64, +0.39, +0.2% ) , both falling from earlier forays into positive territory.
May crude-oil futures were also back in the red, down 11 cents at $61.78 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange after spiking to $62.56 within minutes of the Energy Department's data on energy inventories for the week ended April 6.
The Nymex reformulated gasoline contract for May was up 1.5% at $2.165 a gallon on the report, which confirmed a drop in inventories at a time of year when refiners typically build up stocks ahead of the summer driving season. A similar move was seen in heating-oil futures, reflecting a drawdown in heating oil and diesel stocks due in part to unseasonably cold spring weather in much of the country. See Futures Movers.
In company news, Royal Dutch Shell (RDSA : 67.18, +0.52, +0.8% ) (RDSB : 67.41, +0.49, +0.7% ) agreed to pay European shareholders nearly $353 million to settle a lawsuit stemming from its overstatement of oil reserves, a scandal that cost several top Shell executives their jobs. The company has said a similar payment of about $80 million to U.S. shareholders is pending. See full story.
Shares of Royal Dutch Shell traded in the U.S. were up 0.6% at $67.07.
Among other top names in the oil group, shares of Dow Jones Industrial Average component Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM : 77.37, -0.20, -0.3% ) were off 0.7% at $77.01.
Chevron Corp. (CVX : 76.94, -0.10, -0.1% ) shares were off 11 cents at $76.93, falling back from an all-time intraday high of $77.47 hit shortly after the Energy Department data was released.
Late Tuesday, the San Ramon, Calif., company issued an interim earnings update that highlighted a $700 million after-tax first-quarter gain from the sale of its 31% stake in a Dutch refinery to BP (BP :66.33, +0.51, +0.8% ) . At the same time, it cautioned that weaker oil prices and operational problems dogging its U.S. refinery output would partially offset the gain. See full story.
ConocoPhillips (COP :69.25, -0.20, -0.3% ) , the third biggest U.S. oil company after Exxon and Chevron, has joined the ranks of other major corporations calling for a cap on greenhouse gas emissions. The Houston-based oil company said it has joined the U.S. Climate Action Partnership where, together with such industrial giants as General Electric and Alcoa, it will lobby for a flexible approach to reducing pollutants blame for raising the temperature of the Earth's atmosphere.
"We recognize that human activity, including the burning of fossil fuels, is contributing to increased concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere that can lead to adverse changes in global climate," Jim Mulva, chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement.
"In addition to taking actions in our own businesses, we believe it is important that business should step forward to help devise practical, equitable and cost-effective approaches to address the concentration of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere at both a national and international level," he added.
ConocoPhillips shares were down 30 cents at $69.15.
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