US energy stocks climb as oil rallies on Gulf tensions
BUZZ-US energy stocks climb as oil rallies on Gulf tensions ** Shares of US energy companies rise premarket, tracking higher oil prices O/R
** Brent crude futures LCOc1 up 1.5% at $111.24/barrel, after touching its highest since May
** US West Texas Intermediate crude CLc1 rises 5.2% to $109.08/barrel, having earlier touched its highest level since April
** Prices gain with Brent reaching a five-month high, as traders priced in a geopolitical risk premium from Houthi attacks on Saudi infrastructure and reports of vessel attacks in the Gulf
** Energy majors ExxonMobil XOM.N and Chevron CVX.N gain 1.2% and 1.3%, respectively
** Oil and gas producers ConocoPhillips COP.N, Occidental Petroleum OXY.N, Permian Resources PR.N and SM Energy SM.N gain between 1.3% and 2.1%
** Oilfield services companies Baker Hughes BKR.O up 0.6% and SLB SLB.N gains 0.9%
** Halliburton HAL.N up 4.6% after beating Q3 revenue and profit estimates, helped by higher demand in Latin America
** Refiners Marathon Petroleum MPC.N up 1.6% and Phillips 66 PSX.N gains 1.9%
(Reporting by Sumit Saha in Bengaluru)