Shares of oil and natural gas companies were on the rise Friday, with U.S. large caps Chevron (NYSE: CVX), ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM), and Devon Energy (NYSE: DVN) up 2.3%, 4.3%, and 5.1%, respectively, as of 3:30 p.m. ET.

Their synchronous upward moves came as Russia announced a 500,000-barrel-per-day cut to its oil production, an unusual move in that it was taken without coordination with the OPEC+ group in which it participates.

Less Russian crude on the world market would mean potentially higher oil prices -- however, some analysts argued that the country made the move out of necessity, rather than intention, in the aftermath of the new sanctions put on Russia by the European Union, the Group of Seven (G7), and Australia in December.

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Source Fool.com