AX: Crude oil prices surge, fueled by US demand expectations
By Alan Fein
(AXcess News) New York - The price of crude oil surged Tuesday, rising more than $2.80 per barrel on expectations that an improving US economy would fuel demand. This morning, oil futures were trading up 0.4% as the rally extends into its second day. While among independent oil & gas exploration companies, XTO, GDP and NFX reported fourth-quarter results and in the OTCBB micro cap stocks volume leader category for the sector, HPCO, TTXP and TEGR made the news.
With signs in the market that the US economy could improve, energy traders began pushing future prices higher Tuesday. As the dollar retreated simultaneously, speculation took hold.
Crude oil futures for March rose $2.88 per barrel Tuesday to close at $77.01 on the New York Mercantile Exchange. This morning, the March contract for oil was up 44 cents, or 0.57%, at $77.45.
London Brent crude price on the ICE Exchange rose 42 cents per barrel, or 0.55%, to $76.10.
Heating oil contracts in New York were up a penny per gallon, crossing the $2.00 per gallon mark.
Gasoline futures on the MERC where up 1.24 cents, or 0.62%, at $2.00 per gallon.
The Independent Oil & Gas Composite was trading up 1.99% at 1018.5. For the sector, XTO Energy (NYSE: XTO) reported fourth quarter results this morning, indicating operating income rose 39% over the same period last year. Goodrich Petroleum (NYSE: GDP) said natural gas production rose 4.5% in the fourth quarter while proven reserves had increased 21% over the same period last year. Newfield Exploration Company (NYSE: NFX) reported net income in the fourth quarter of $0.86 per fully diluted share. Yet for the full-year, the Company recorded a net loss of $4.18 per share, blaming harshly lower natural gas prices in the first quarter as a result.
Among micro cap stocks, Hallador Petroleum (OTCBB: HPCO) rose from $8.50 at the open Tuesday to close at $9.75. The last news was reported in late December, 2009 when in an Edgar filing the Company reported a change in directors and amended Bylaws. No news has been posted since.
Trilliant Exploration (OTCBB: TTXP) made the volume leader list amongst Bulletin Board micro cap energy stocks Tuesday, rising more than 325%, or $0.02 cents, to close at $0.03 most likely on speculation. Trilliant's prior president, William Lieberman, resigned on January 31st. Trafalgar Capital analyst Jeffrey Sternberg joined the board and replaced Lieberman effective February 1st. No news has been forthcoming since.
Terra Energy & Resource Technology Inc (OTCBB: TEGR) doubled its market price at the close on Tuesday. The micro cap independent oil and gas exploration stock rose 7 cents per share to close at 14 cents. The Company was a volume leader in both percentage gain and price on Tuesday. The Company announced this morning that its sensing technology for oil and gas exploration was used to complete an exploration project in Nevada. CEO Dmitry Vilbaum was quoted as saying, "We welcomed this project because we had an opportunity to showcase the STeP® technology in one of the most challenging frontier areas."
