Crude oil prices recorded gains on Thursday, as did most Oklahoma energy stocks with some seeing 4% boosts for the day.
The increase in crude oil prices came about because of lower U.S. crude inventories, plus strong crude imports by China.
The August contract for West Texas Intermediate crude expired on Thursday where WTI gained 28 cents or 0.4% and settled at $75.63 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude,the global benchmark, saw its September futures gain 18 cents or 0.2% and finish at $79.64 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
Natural gas prices rose 5.92% on a 15 cent increase to $2.76.
While some Oklahoma energy stocks dropped by up to 5% in Thursday’s trading, it appears most actually recorded gains for the day, including a more than 4% boost for Empire Petroleum in Tulsa.

APA Corp. (Apache) (APA) down 0.19 at 37.97 – change 0.50%
Cheniere (LNG) down 0.61 at 156.77 – change 0.39%
Chevron (CVX) up 1.71 at 156.40 – change 1.10%
ConocoPhillips (COP) up 2.21 at 111.69 – change 2.01%
Diamondback Energy (FANG) up 1.12 at 140..02 – change 0.80%
Energy Transfer LP (ET) up 0.02 at 13.20 – change 0.15%
Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) down 0.02 at 26.90 – change 0.08%
EOG Resources (EOG) up 1.05 at 123.49 – change 0.85%
ExxonMobil (XOM) up 1.79 at 103.41 – change 1.76%
Kinder Morgan (KMI) up 0.35 at 17.64 – change 2.02%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) up 0.36 at 25.23 – change 1.44%
NOV Inc. (NOV) down 0.06 at 18.39 – change 0.33%
Occidental Petroleum (OXY) up 0.30 at 60.46 – change 0.49%
Phillips 66 (PSX) up 1.59 at 104.05 – change 1.55%
Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) up 3.03 at 213.14 – change 1.44%
Tellurian Inc. (TELL) down 0.08 at 1.59 – change 4.22%
Valero (VLO) up 2.71 at 120.73 – change 2.29%
CLOSING TOP UTILITY STOCKS
American Electric Power (AEP) up 1.45 at 86.82 – change 1.69%
CenterPoint (CNP) up 0.55 at 30.37 – change 1.84%
Entergy (ETR) up 2.45 at 103.72 – change 2.41%