Wednesday brought another day of slumping crude oil prices as the fighting expands in Gaza and Israel pushes deeper into the territory in a bid to wipe out Hamas. Prices slid about 1% to a three week low. Oklahoma energy stocks split the day with losses and gains.
The slide happened as the U.S. dollar strengthened and the Federal Reserve maintained interest rates where they are. Why would they affect crude oil prices? Because interest rate hikes slow economic growth and weaken demand for oil. Further, a strong dollar makes it more expensive to buy fuel using other currencies, putting more pressure on prices.
West Texas Intermediate crude, considered to be the U.S. benchmark, dropped 58 cents or 0.7% to $80.44 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent futures, referred to as the global benchmark, slipped 39 cents or 0.5% and settled at $84.63 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. It was the lowest settlement for Brent since Oct. 6 and the lowest for WTI since Aug. 28.
December natural gas fell 9 cents to $3.49 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Of Oklahoma energy stocks, it was split with about half recording losses and the other half seeing gains for the day. Gulfport Energy had the strongest gain at 5%
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The Texas Energy Report shows how other stocks performed.
APA Corp. (Apache) (APA) down 0.11 at 39.61 – change 0.28%
Cheniere (LNG) up 2.21 at 168.63 – change 1.32%
Chevron (CVX) down 1.75 at 143.97 – change 1.21%
ConocoPhillips (COP) down 2.13 at 116.67 – change 1.80%
Diamondback Energy (FANG) down 0.91 at 159.41 – change 0.57%
Energy Transfer LP (ET) unchanged at 13.15 – change 0.00%
Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) down 0.08 at 25.97 – change 0.27%
EOG Resources (EOG) down 2.03 at 124.22 – change 1.61%
Exxon Mobil (XOM) down 0.21 at 105.64 – change 0.20%
Kinder Morgan (KMI) up 0.15 at 16.35 – change 0.92%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) down 0.20 at 27.11 – change 0.74%
NOV Inc. (NOV) down 0.27 at 19.69 – change 1.36%
Occidental Petroleum (OXY) down 0.45 at 61.36 – change 0.73%
Phillips 66 (PSX) up 2.02 at 116.09 – change 1.77%
Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) down 1.13 at 237.87 – change 0.48%
Tellurian Inc. (TELL) up 0.01 at 0.70 – change 2.15%
Valero (VLO) up 0.73 at 127.73 – change 0.57%
CLOSING TOP UTILITY STOCKS
American Electric Power (AEP) up 0.94 at 76.48 – change 1.24%
CenterPoint (CNP) up 0.44 at 27.32 – change 1.63%
Entergy (ETR) up 2.15 at 97.74 – change 2.24%