Energy stocks were higher Friday afternoon, with the NYSE Energy Sector Index rising 2.6% and the State Street Energy Select Sector SPDR ETF (XLE) adding 2.8%.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index was climbing 5.3%, and the Dow Jones US Utilities Index was decreasing 0.6%.
In geopolitical news, Saudi Aramco has ordered the evacuation of its headquarters in Dhahran on the Gulf near Bahrain, as fighting intensified with the Iran-aligned Houthis, Reuters reported. Meanwhile, an oil spill from a tanker was detected off the coast of Umm Al Quwain in the United Arab Emirates, the UAE Ministry of Climate Change and Environment said, according to the news report, without identifying the cause of the spill or the tanker involved.
Front-month West Texas Intermediate crude oil gained 3.2% to $102.69 a barrel, and the global benchmark Brent crude contract climbed 2.7% to $116.21 a barrel. Henry Hub natural gas futures fell 5.3% to $2.65 per 1 million BTU.
In corporate news, SLB (SLB) reported better-than-expected Q3 results on Friday as a surge in North America revenue and momentum in its data center business offset weakness in its Middle East operations. Its shares jumped past 6%.
