Shares of energy companies climbed amid strong earnings and increased energy prices.
BP shares were more or less flat after the British oil major pledged to return more cash to shareholders after higher oil prices and strong trading results buoyed its first-quarter earnings, the strongest sign yet that a recovery is under way in one of the industries worst hit by the pandemic.
Oil companies are finding their way back from one of the worst years on record in 2020 as Covid-19 lockdowns choked-off demand, and as investors and governments pushed for a shift from fossil fuels.
Doug Lawler, the chief executive of Chesapeake Energy, will leave the company at the end of this month, little more than two months after the shale-gas pioneer emerged from bankruptcy.
Natural gas prices continued a recent rally, rising by more than 2% o $2.86-per-million British thermal units, a new two-month highs, and preparing to test the psychological $3 level that it hasn't closed above since Feb. 19.
U.S. benchmark oil futures rose to near $63 a barrel as optimism about demand offset reports that OPEC ministers would re-affirm their support for allowing members to start raising production.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
04-27-21 1618ET
