The response by U.S. and British warships and planes to the Houthi attacks on tankers in the Red Sea sent crude oil prices rising on Friday. Dozens of air strikes across Yemen were carried out late Thursday after the Houthi forces seemingly had gone untouched with dozens of attacks on ships passing through the sea.
In the states, the U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude rose 66 cents or 0.9% to finish Friday’s trading at $72.68 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Brent crude, the global benchmark responded with an 88 cent or 1.1% gain for the day, settling at $78.29 a barrel in trading on ICE Futures Europe.
February natural gas rose 21 cents to $3.31 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Friday’s trading proved to be a strong one for Oklahoma energy stocks with Chesapeake Energy gaining more than 4% a day after its announced merger with Southwestern Energy Co.. PHX Minerals rose nearly 4% as well.
APA Corp. (Apache) (APA) up 0.08 at 32.54 – change 0.24%
Cheniere (LNG) up 0.40 at 165.06 – change 0.24%
Chevron (CVX) up 1.99 at 147.27 – change 1.36%
ConocoPhillips (COP) up 0.70 at 111.70 – change 0.63%
Diamondback Energy (FANG) up 2.45 at 153.84 – change 1.61%
Energy Transfer LP (ET) up 0.09 at 14.01 – change 0.64%
Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) up 0.21 at 27.01 – change 0.78%
EOG Resources (EOG) up 1.07 at 116.05 – change 0.93%
Exxon Mobil (XOM) up 1.28 at 99.95 – change 1.29%
Kinder Morgan (KMI) up 0.13 at 17.97 – change 0.72%
Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) up 0.46 at 23.40 – change 2.00%
NOV Inc. (NOV) up 0.53 at 19.98 – change 2.72%
Occidental Petroleum (OXY) up 0.93 at 58.06 – change 1.62%
Phillips 66 (PSX) up 2.59 at 132.87 – change 1.98%
Pioneer Natural Resources (PXD) up 3.32 at 223.69 – change 1.50%
Tellurian Inc. (TELL) up 0.01 at 0.67 – change 1.92%
Valero (VLO) up 3.50 at 131.50 – change 2.73%
CLOSING TOP UTILITY STOCKS
American Electric Power (AEP) up 1.09 at 81.48 – change 1.35%
CenterPoint (CNP) up 0.22 at 28.57 – change 0.77%
Entergy (ETR) up 0.66 at 103.13 – change 0.64%