Oil and Gas Stock Roundup: Optimism Ignites Offshore Drillers

Crude oil continued its bull run this week, finishing up slightly more than 1%, putting it up double digits for the quarter and more than 20% above its low point in June. The positive finish helped propel several oil stocks to big gains this week. That said, the bulk of the largest moves were from offshore-drilling stocks, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence, thanks to some industry-specific catalysts.

A boatload of offshore-drilling contractors finished the week up double digits, led by Atwood Oceanics (NYSE: ATW), Transocean (NYSE: RIG), Ensco (NYSE: ESV), Rowan Companies (NYSE: RDC), and Noble Corp (NYSE: NE). While the rise in oil certainly helped, the primary driver of this move offshore was a bullish report from UBS, which upgraded Transocean, Rowan, Noble, and Ensco from neutral to buy, while raising its price targets on those stocks. Meanwhile, Ensco's move higher pulled Atwood Oceanics up with it since the two are in the process of merging in an all-stock deal.