Crude oil prices dropped nearly 2% to a two-week low in Wednesday’s trading and the majority of Oklahoma energy stocks followed suit.
The strengthening of the dollar caused the decline, despite a sharp drop in U.S. crude inventories.
West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery dropped 2.1% or $1.70 per barrel to settle at $79.16 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The June WTI contract becomes the U.S. front-month at the end of trading on Thursday.
Brent crude, the global benchmark, fell 2% or $1.65 per barrel in trading on ICE Futures Europe and settled at $83.12.
May natural gas fell 15 cents to $2.22 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Most Oklahoma energy stocks suffered losses in Wednesday’s trading including a more than 6% drop for Empire Petroleum.
APA Corp. (Apache) (APA) down 0.63 at 38.79 – change 1.60%
Cheniere (LNG) up 0.33 at 150.83 – change 0.21%
Chevron (CVX) up 0.16 at 170.68 – change 0.09%
ConocoPhillips (COP) up 0.31 at 105.26 – change 0.29%
Diamondback Energy (FANG) down 1.01 at 143.66 – change 0.70%
Energy Transfer LP (ET) down 0.23 at 12.68 – change 1.79%
Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) down 0.25 at 26.76 – change 0.93%
EOG Resources (EOG) down 0.20 at 118.80 – change 0.17%
ExxonMobil (XOM) down 0.37 at 116.57 – change 0.32%
Kinder Morgan (KMI) down 0.10 at 17.60 – change 0.57%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) down 0.08 at 24.66 – change 0.33%
NOV Inc. (NOV) up 0.18 at 18.67 – change 0.97%
Occidental Petroleum (OXY) down 0.53 at 62.47 – change 0.85%
Phillips 66 (PSX) down 1.25 at 103.06 – change 1.20%
Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) down 1.17 at 227.31 – change 0.52%
Tellurian Inc. (TELL) down 0.01 at 1.48 – change 0.68%
Valero (VLO) down 2.71 at 124.40 – change 2.14%
CLOSING TOP UTILITY STOCKS
American Electric Power (AEP) up 1.07 at 93.54 – change 1.15%
CenterPoint (CNP) up 0.28 at 30.51 – change 0.92%
Entergy (ETR) up 0.82 at 109.40 – change 0.75%