On the same day Big Oil was slammed by members of a U.S. House Committee exploring high gasoline prices, oil futures took a sharp drop on Wednesday.
The drop occurred as nations announced plans to release oil from their reserves to counter an increase in tight supplies. Both Brent and West Texas Intermediate benchmarks hit their lowest closing levels since mid-March.
Global benchmark Brent crude dropped $5.57 or 5.2% to settle at $101.07 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
WTI, the U.S. benchmark fell $5.73 or 5.6% and finished trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange at $96.23 a barrel.
The price drops came after member states of the International Energy Agency said they will release 120 million barrels from strategic reserves to counter price gains. Sources indicated the release will include 60 million from the U.S.
A handful of Oklahoma energy stocks made gains in Wednesday’s trading. Mammoth Energy saw the largest with a nearly 7% increase for the day. Others recorded big losses including Cypress Environmental with a more than 9% drop.
Apache (APA) down 0.88 at 40.81 – change 2.12%
Cheniere (LNG) up 0.30 at 141.06 – change 0.21%
Chevron (CVX) up 1.45 at 164.81 – change 0.88%
ConocoPhillips (COP) down 0.51 at 97.54 – change 0.53%
Diamondback Energy (FANG) down 0.42 at 135.06 – change 0.32%
Energy Transfer LP (ET) down 0.10 at 11.09 – change 0.90%
Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) up 0.03 at 26.05 – change 0.11%
EOG Resources (EOG) up 0.62 at 118.45 – change 0.52%
ExxonMobil (XOM) up 0.92 at 83.65 – change 1.11%
Kinder Morgan (KMI) up 0.09 at 19.01 – change 0.47%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) down 0.38 at 24.42 – change 1.54%
National Oilwell Varco (NOV) down 0.10 at 19.27 – change 0.52%
Occidental Petroleum (OXY) up 0.38 at 56.10 – change 0.68%
Phillips 66 (PSX) down 0.23 at 85.68 – change 0.27%
Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) down 2.50 at 241.98 – change 1.03%
Tellurian Inc. (TELL) down 0.05 at 5.96 – change 0.84%
Valero (VLO) up 1.84 at 103.30 – change 1.81%
CLOSING TOP UTILITY STOCKS
American Electric Power (AEP) up 3.18 at 104.49 – change 3.13%
CenterPoint (CNP) up 0.74 at 31.77 – change 2.38%
Entergy (ETR) up 2.29 at 123.60 – change 1.88%