Crude oil prices plunged by more than $5 in Wednesday’s trading and most Oklahoma energy stocks followed suit with one energy company recording an 8% tumble in the value of its shares.
What prompted the big drop in crude? Fuel demand destruction along with a bleaker economic picture. At least, that’s what the experts contend.
West Texas Intermediate crude, the U.S. benchmark, dropped $5.01 or 5.6% to settle at $84.22, nearly $10 less than it was about a week ago.
Global benchmark Brent crude exited Wednesday’s trading with a $5.11 plunge or 5.6% before closing at $85.81 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.
The morning trading started with the slide in crude prices but November natural gas rose 1 cent to $2.96 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Wednesday proved to be a rocky road for Oklahoma energy stocks such as Vital Energy Inc. which suffered a more than 8% loss in the value of its shares. Devon Energy and Empire Petroleum each were in the 5% range of losses.
The day proved to be a dismal one for other energy stocks, according to the Texas Energy Report.
APA Corp. (Apache) (APA) down 1.65 at 38.01 – change 4.17%
Cheniere (LNG) down 3.66 at 158.94 – change 2.26%
Chevron (CVX) down 3.89 at 163.04 change 2.34%
ConocoPhillips (COP) down 4.27 at 113.33 – change 3.64%
Diamondback Energy (FANG) down 5.38 at 145.51 – change 3.57%
Energy Transfer LP (ET) down 0.21 at 13.34 – change 1.55%
Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) down 0.11 at 26.99 – change 0.41%
EOG Resources (EOG) down 4.88 at 119.36 – change 3.93%
Exxon Mobil (XOM) down 4.33 at 111.50 – change 3.74%
Kinder Morgan (KMI) down 0.08 at 16.03 – change 0.44%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) down 1.28 at 24.40 – change 4.99%
NOV Inc. (NOV) down 1.23 at 19.28 – change 0.06%
Occidental Petroleum (OXY) down 2.42 at 60.04 – change 3.88%
Phillips 66 (PSX) down 5.14 at 110.49 – change 4.45%
Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) down 8.32 at 215.32 – change 3.73%
Tellurian Inc. (TELL) down 0.05 at 1.00 – change 4.77%
Valero (VLO) down 4.91 at 128.66 – change 3.68%
CLOSING TOP UTILITY STOCKS
American Electric Power (AEP) up 0.48 at 73.29 – change 0.65%
CenterPoint (CNP) up 0.19 at 26.54 – change 0.72%
Entergy (ETR) up 0.93 at 91.02 – change 1.03%