Oil Ends Week On A High Note

Published on Friday, 17 February 2012 17:45 Written by Todd Shriber

New York, February 17^th (TradersHuddle.com) – Speculation that Greece is just days away from signing a debt deal and news that supplies may dwindle in the coming months sent oil futures higher to close the week. NYMEX-traded crude gained 93 cents to settle at $103.24 per barrel while London-traded Brent fell 53 cents to close at $119.58 per barrel in what was viewed as some small profit-taking in the global benchmark contract. The moderate decline in Brent crude might be viewed as a positive sign as global financial markets have shown a tendency to pullback when Brent surpasses $120 per barrel.

On Friday, traders speculated that global oil supplies could decline a bit in the spring as Iran and the European Union continue to butt heads regarding Iran’s controversial nuclear program. Iran accounts for 18% of the EU’s oil imports, according to the Associated Press. That said, the speculation may be nothing more than just that: speculation. As we noted earlier this week, China and India, among other emerging markets, remain eager buyers of Iranian crude and could make up for some of the potential loss of sales to the EU.

With modest gains for the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average, U.S. oil stocks only saw modest gains. Exxon Mobil (NYSE: XOM) and Chevron (NYSE: CVX) finished the day slightly higher. ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) gained almost 1% on news the company a contract to purchase over 5 million barrels of crude from Ecuador, the smallest OPEC member.

The independents were mixed, but Apache (NYSE: APA) shined with a 1.7% gain and Anadarko Petroleum (NYSE: APC) notched a small gain. Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) endured a small pullback, but it’s hard to quibble with Devon’s recent performance. The stock is up over 13% in the past week.

There were some positive headlines for European oil majors today. BP (NYSE: BP) surged over 2% on above average volume after Japan’s Mitsui was ordered to pay $90 million related to the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. Bloombeg also reported BP, Chevron and ConocoPhillips are among the global oil majors looking to win lucrative offshore exploration and production contracts in Turkey.

Speaking of offshore exploration and European oil majors, shares of Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS-A) surprisingly closed fractionally lower despite news that the Interior Department has approved the Anglo-Dutch oil giant’s spill response plan for the Chukchi Sea off the coast of Alaska. Shell has been angling to drill off the coast of Alaska for several years and the plan was stymied following the Gulf spill in 2010. Approval of the company’s spill response plan is believed to be one of the last goals the company must accomplish before it can commence drilling in the Beaufort and Chuckhi Seas.