Crude oil prices ended higher on Monday with West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery adding 74 cents or 1.8%.
WTI settled at $41.01 a barrel in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange as analysts credited the increase on upbeat readings on manufacturing activities. Some also see a limited field of improvement for oil prices because of the continuing rise of the number of COVID-19 cases reported MarketWatch.
October Brent crude, the global benchmark rose 63 cents or 1.5% and finished the day at $44.15 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
The increased prices came after the Institute for Supply Management said its manufacturing index rose to 54.2 in July from 52.6 in June, the highest level in 15 months. A reading higher than 50 indicates an expansion in activity.
However—there’s always a ‘however.’ OPEC’s decision to relax production curbs takes effect this month and the output is targeted to rise by nearly 1.5 million barrels a day.
“Investors are worried that the production increase will reverse the recent price recovery in oil, especially as coronavirus cases continue to rise world-wide and energy demand remains subdued,” said Mihir Kapadia, chief executive of Sun Global Investments, in a note.
While oil prices rose, so did shares in Oklahoma City’s SandRidge Energy. The company saw a 30 cent increase or 23.08% for the day as shares settled at $1.60.
Devon Energy finished up 11 cents for a 1.05% gain before settling at $10.60 a share.
Here are how others finished the day:
ConocoPhillips (COP) down 0.68 at 36.71 – change 1.82%
EOG Resources (EOG) down 0.48 at 46.37 – change 1.03%
ExxonMobil (XOM) up 0.17 at 42.25 – change 0.40%
Kinder Morgan (KMI) down 0.08 at 14.03 – change 0.50%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) up 0.03 at 5.52 – change 0.54%
National Oilwell Varco (NOV) up 0.08 at 11.59 – change 0.69%
Noble Energy (NBL) down 0.02 at 9.97 – change 0.21%
Occidental Petroleum (OXY) down 0.49 at 15.25 – change 3.12%
ONEOK (OKE) up 0.21 at 28.12 – change 0.75%
Phillips 66 (PSX) down 0.90 at 61.12 – change 1.46%
Valero (VLO) down 1.34 at 53.91 – change 2.43%
CLOSING TOP UTILITY STOCKS
American Electric Power (AEP) down 1.12 at 85.77 – change 1.28%
Source: MarketWatch