Crude oil prices made gains on Thursday reaching highest levels since late April

Information that suggests there could be increasing fuel demand from the U.S. and China on Thursday led to gains in crude oil prices. Analysts felt the gains would have been stronger had it not been for energy data also showing gasoline and diesel demand last week was the weakest since the 2020 coronavirus epidemic.

West Texas Intermediate crude finished up 27 cents or 0.3% to settle at $79.26 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Brent crude gained 30 cents or 0.4% and closed at $83.88 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe.

It proved to be the highest close for both benchmarks since April 30.

June natural gas rose 11 cents to $2.30 per 1,000 cubic feet.

Thursday was another day of mixed trading for Oklahoma energy stocks. As an example, while Mammoth Energy rose 4%, PHX Minerals  dropped the same amount.

Most other energy stocks finished with gains for the day, according to the Texas Energy Report.

APA Corp. (Apache) (APA) up 0.37 at 30.88 – change 1.21%

Cheniere (LNG) up 1.08 at 157.78 – change 0.69%

Chevron (CVX) up 2.91 at 165.45 – change 0.08%

ConocoPhillips (COP) up 0.33 at 123.39 – change 0.26%

Diamondback Energy (FANG) up 0.50 at 203.72 – change 0.24%

Energy Transfer LP (ET) down 0.02 at 16.23 – change 0.13%

Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) up 0.24 at 28.63 – change 0.84%

EOG Resources (EOG) up 0.73 at 130.56 – change 0.56%

Exxon Mobil (XOM) up 2.29 at 118.44 – change 1.97%

Kinder Morgan (KMI) up 0.20 at 19.01 – change 1.06%

Marathon Oil Corp. (MRO) up 0.21 at 27.19 – change 0.77%

NOV Inc. (NOV) up 0.21 at 19.13 – change 1.10%

Occidental Petroleum (OXY) up 0.56 at 64.23 – change 0.87%

Phillips 66 (PSX) up 0.78 at 147.72 – change 0.53%

Tellurian Inc. (TELL) up 0.02 at 0.43 – change 4.87%

Valero (VLO) up 1.80 at 158.87 – change 1.14%

CLOSING TOP UTILITY STOCKS

American Electric Power (AEP) up 1.24 at 90.95 – change 1.39%

CenterPoint (CNP) up 0.33 at 29.79 – change 1.12%

Entergy (ETR) up 0.65 at 111.48 – change 0.58%