QEP, Exterran rally; energy stocks flatten

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) � Shares of QEP Resources, Exterran Holdings and Denbury Resources moved sharply higher Thursday, while energy stocks moved up in afternoon action after flat trading earlier in the day.

In futures trading, crude for April delivery �rose past $107 a barrel, setting up the energy sector for gains. Read more in Futures Movers.

Energy stocks in the Standard & Poor�s 500 Index SPX advanced 1%, on average.

Click to Play Why gas keeps coming up in campaign 2012

As the presidential race heats up, candidates and President Obama are presenting options for lowering gas prices. Photo: AP

Upside leaders include QEP Resources QEP , up 8%, Denbury Resources DNR , ahead by 5.5% and Chesapeake Energy Corp. CHK �up 4%.

On the downside, First Solar Inc. FSLR �fell 8% while Williams Cos. WMB �dropped about 1%.

Among energy stocks from outside the S&P 500, oil service firm Parker Drilling Co. PKD �fell back by 8.8% and natural gas compression specialist Exterran Holdings Inc. EXH �jumped 19%.

Exterran said it�ll save $20 million to $25 million a year as part of a workforce reduction.

Exterran also narrowed its fourth-quarter loss to $66.6 million, or $1.06 a share, compared to a loss of $118 million, or $1.90 a share, in the year-earlier period. The company�s adjusted loss was 14 cents a share in the latest quarter, as revenue increased to $702.9 million from $616 million.

Analysts, on average, had expected Exterran to lose 44 cents a share on revenue of $629 million, according to a survey by FactSet Research.

Checking the major benchmarks in the energy sector, the Philadelphia Oil Service Index OSX �rose 0.6%, while the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index XX:XNG �added about 1.3%, and the NYSE Arca Oil Index XX:XOI �moved up about 0.9%.

Exxon adds 1.8 billion billion barrels to reserves

Also Thursday, Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM �said it added 1.8 billion oil-equivalent barrels to its reserves in 2011.

Shares of Exxon Mobil rose 0.1%, while fellow blue chip Chevron Corp. CVX �advanced 0.8% within the Dow Jones Industrial Average.

�During challenging times for the global economy, we continue to take a long-term view of resource development and invest throughout the commodity price cycle,� said Exxon Mobil Chief Executive Rex Tillerson in a statement.