Why Integrated Oil Giants ExxonMobil, Chevron, BP, Total, and Shell Took Off Today
Shares of integrated oil and natural gas giant ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) rose 8.6% in early trading on Wall Street on June 5. That's a really big move for what is usually a pretty boring energy company, but it wasn't alone. U.S. peer Chevron (NYSE: CVX) was up as much as 5.5%, France's Total (NYSE: TOT) 6.5%, the United Kingdom's BP (NYSE: BP) 8.3%, and Europe's Royal Dutch Shell (NYSE: RDS.B) 6.9%. Relatively small South African integrated energy player Sasol even got into the act, actually leading the early gains with a hefty 13.3% price jump at the start of the trading day.
There were two notable pieces of news in the energy sector today and both got investors excited about the future. But the past is important here. The industry has been attempting to muddle through a period of historically low oil prices. There are a number of factors involved in this predicament, including the long-term trend of growing U.S. onshore oil production, a pricing spat between OPEC and Russia (since resolved, with the help of the United States) that increased supply at the worst possible time, and the impact of the worldwide effort to contain the spread of COVID-19, which has dramatically reduced demand for energy.
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Source Fool.com
