SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) -- After a rocky start, oil and gas stocks quickly settled into what's shaping up to be another positive session, taking strength from a higher stock market and rising oil prices.
The NYSE Arca Oil Index (XOI 1,016, +12.82, +1.28%) was up 1.3% to 1,015 points, putting the index on track for a fifth consecutive day of gains. Further gains by crude-oil prices were helping the cause.
The October light crude futures contract was last up 94 cents to $72.05 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Oil traders were bidding prices higher ahead as ministers from the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries gathered in Vienna to discuss production policy.
Industry analysts widely expect the producers cartel to leave production quotas unchanged, a position endorsed by Saudi Arabia, the group's biggest producer. See Futures Movers.
Meanwhile, U.S.-traded shares of Spain's Repsol YPF (REP 25.52, +0.81, +3.28%) were leading percentage gainers in the oil group, up 2.5% to $25.59. Repsol has a stake in the Guara oil field of Brazil. Brazilian state oil company Petrobras, which has a 45% stake in Guara, said earlier Wednesday that the field appears to contain as much as 2 billion barrels of recoverable crude.
Petrobras (PBR 43.57, +0.64, +1.49%) shares were up 1.4% to $43.55 on the news.
The NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index (XNG 468.75, +7.34, +1.59%) was ahead 1.2% at 466.62 at last glance, led by Anadarko Petroleum's (APC 56.46, +2.19, +4.04%) 3.2% advance to $56.02. Chesapeake Energy (CHK 23.96, +0.87, +3.76%) was up 2.7% at $23.73 and XTO Energy (XTO 39.52, +1.07, +2.78%) was ahead 2.4% at $39.38.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index (OSX 181.85, +0.56, +0.31%) , which started the morning in the red as investors locked in recent gains, was back on its feet by midmorning, showing a slim 0.1% gain at 181.39 points.
In the green-tech sector, First Solar (FSLR 142.39, +7.98, +5.94%) shares were up 6.7% to $143.32. The company announced late Tuesday that it had landed a big contract in China to build a huge, 2-gigawatt solar power field. .
