NEW YORK—Following is a summary of top stories in the energy sector Friday afternoon.
Gasoline Price Rise Stalls
For the first time in 18 days, retail gasoline prices fell -- if only slightly. Some analysts think pump prices may be near or at a peak for the year. Oil futures, meanwhile, soared after Turkish airstrikes on Kurdish rebel bases in Iraq injected some supply concerns into the market and the Labor Department's employment report gave investors reason to be optimistic about the economy.
Light, sweet crude for June delivery rose $3.80 to settle at $116.32 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The national average price of a gallon of regular gas fell 0.1 cent overnight to $3.622, according to a survey of gas stations by AAA and the Oil Price Information Service. That's the first time since April 14 that retail prices have fallen. Diesel prices fell 0.2 cent to a national average of $4.249 a gallon.
June gasoline futures gained 8.82 cents to settle at $2.9664 a gallon, and June heating oil futures rose 10.10 cents to settle at $3.2187 a gallon.
Natural gas futures picked up 21.6 cents to settle at $10.777 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Chevron Makes Record Profit on Exploration and Production
Chevron Corp. reported the most profitable first quarter in its history, earning $5.17 billion, or $2.48 per share, in the first three months of the year, up 10 percent from $4.72 billion, or $2.18 per share, a year earlier.
The performance beat the average earnings estimate of $2.41 per share among analysts polled by Thomson Financial.
But revenue -- up 37 percent to $65.95 billion -- fell well below the analysts' forecast of $75.64 billion.
Chevron's upstream exploration and production business did well -- mostly because of high crude-oil prices -- and accounted for almost all of the quarterly profit. Income of $5.13 billion was nearly twice what the segment earned a year ago.
Downstream refining and marketing took a beating. Earnings plunging 84 percent to $252 million from $1.6 billion. A billion dollars of the loss came from international downstream, where last year Chevron logged a $700 million gain from the sale of Netherlands assets. High crude prices ate into margins as well.
In afternoon trading, Chevron shares rose 31 cents to $95.25.
Marathon Shares Still Drawing Investors
Marathon Oil Corp. shares extended big gains sparked by better-than-expected earnings.
Shares rose $3.08, or 6.4 percent, to $50.99 in afternoon trading.
Lehman Brothers analyst Paul Cheng raised his target price on the stock, which he rates "Overweight." Other analysts also cheered the Houston company's results.
On Thursday, Marathon shares jumped more than 5 percent after the company said its first-quarter profit rose 2 percent, helped by soaring oil prices that offset weakness at its sizable refining operations. Adjusted earnings shot well past analysts' forecasts.
Rig Count Down Slightly
The number of rigs actively exploring for oil and natural gas in the U.S. this week fell by three from the week before.
Of the 1,839 rigs running nationwide, 1,473 are exploring for natural gas and 357 for oil, according to Baker Hughes Inc., which tracks rig operations worldwide. Nine rigs were listed as miscellaneous.
A year ago, the rig count stood at 1,747.
This week, 69 rigs are running offshore, mostly in the Gulf of Mexico.
In Canada, the rig count rose by seven from a week ago, to 95, up by six from a year ago.
Aventine Renewable's Earnings a Pleasant Surprise
Shares of ethanol maker Aventine Renewable Energy Inc. soared over 23 percent after its first-quarter revenue and adjusted net income easily beat analyst estimates.
The stock rose $1, or 23.3 percent, to $5.30 in afternoon trading.
The company swung to a first-quarter loss of $10.8 million, or 26 cents per share, compared with a gain of $14.9 million, or 35 cents per share, in the 2007quarter.
But excluding a $21.6 million noncash charge for auction-rate securities, the company's adjusted earnings were $10.8 million, or 26 cents per share.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected, on average, earnings per share of 8 cents. Those estimates usually exclude one-time charges and gains.
Revenue rose to $509.9 million from $436.7 million. Analysts expected $480 million.
"Overall, revenues, gallons sold, gross margins, (supplies, general and administrative expenses) were all better than we had expected," Soleil analyst Ian Horowitz wrote in a client note.
FTC Plans New Rules for Oil Traders
The Federal Trade Commission plans to come up with rules by the end of the year to enforce a new law against price manipulation and deception in oil-trading markets.
The FTC announced that has taken the first step, seeking public comments, toward developing a regulation on oil industry price manipulation.
As part of a broad energy bill passed in December, Congress gave the FTC expanded authority to pursue price manipulation in the oil markets and made it illegal for anyone to provide false information to federal agencies about oil prices.
Among the questions that the FTC hopes to get a clearer sense of is the definition of market manipulation and what should be considered "false and misleading" information in its enforcement of the new law.
The law makes it illegal to use deception or manipulation in the purchase or sale of crude oil, gasoline or petroleum distillates. Violators could face a civil penalty of up to $1 million.
--Compiled by AP Business Writer Greg Stec. Questions or comments can be directed to gstec@ap.org.
