Weekly Performance Update On 5 Foreign Integrated Oil And Gas Stocks

By Power Hedge: The price of crude oil increased by 1.14% over the past week. The overall market also had a very good week, with the S&P 500 climbing over the last week. This had the effect of pushing up the stocks of big oil companies, including those that I follow with these weekly updates. It has not affected all the companies in the same way as there are many other factors that could have some influence over investor behavior.

By Power Hedge: This week was a much more active one for large integrated oil companies than last week was. This is because of the news out of Total's (TOT) Elgin field. The company reported a gas leak at one of their drilling platforms in the North Sea.

By Power Hedge: My readers likely already know that I have begun tracking the weekly stock performance of offshore drilling companies in order to provide another dimension for analyzing the companies. As I also follow, invest in, and frequently write about large foreign oil companies, I have decided to begin writing weekly performance updates on these stocks as well.

By Power Hedge: Crude oil prices fell over the past week. Crude prices declined slowly but steadily during the week, remaining well under $100 per barrel. The S&P 500 was down slightly but relatively flat on Monday and Tuesday before beginning a steady decline on Wednesday that lasted for the rest of the week. As usual, the stock prices of the six integrated oil and gas companies that I track in these updates reacted in different ways.

By Power Hedge: This proved to be a remarkably slow news week for the five large foreign oil and gas companies that I track in these weekly performance updates. The biggest story of the week was Total's (TOT) continuing gas leak at the Elgin platform in the North Sea. Additionally, this was a shorter trading week than normal due to Friday's market holiday.

By Power Hedge: Crude oil prices increased relatively steadily over the past week, although they did fall slightly on Friday. This roughly corresponds with the action in the overall market as measured by the S&P 500. The stock index did show somewhat more volatility, however. It also increased over the course of the week.

By Power Hedge: Crude oil prices decreased slightly over the past week. Crude oil prices remained under $100 per barrel similar to where they closed out last week. The S&P 500, meanwhile, declined over the past week although it did close out the week well above the low point that was reached on Wednesday.

By Power Hedge: The market was slightly down this week as were oil prices. The S&P 500 hit its bottom on Wednesday but then bounced back to close at 1,353.39 for the week. Oil prices were also down slightly. As usual, the offshore companies that I follow in this weekly series reacted differently to the market moves.