SECTOR COMMENTARY

Oil and gas stocks closed mixed, led by natural gas levered E&Ps after natural gas futures continued to build on their recent string of strong gains.

WTI closed at $93.96 down $0.21 or 0.22% with Brent flat traders weighed expectations of more supply from the Middle East and North Africa against news of lower oil output from OPEC. Bullish signs of accelerating global economic growth were undermined by anticipation of increased supply from Libya and of progress in negotiations between Western powers and Iran over its nuclear program that would eventually boost Iran's oil exports. OPEC lowered its oil output further and is pumping less than this year's global need for its crude. OPEC pumps a third of the world's oil, but analysts said a drop in production is not enough to sway U.S. domestic crude oil markets.

Henry Hub futures gained $0.057 or 1.32% to $4.382 but were down from a near record rally earlier in the day as data showing the drawdown in storage during last week's arctic temperatures disappointed analysts' expectations. EIA's weekly storage report showed a drawdown of 287 billion cubic feet (bcf) in natural gas storage over the week ending Jan. 10, beating the previous record of 285 bcf set in December. But the market had priced in a higher estimate of 301 bcf on average.

U.S. INTEGRATEDS

Reuters - Chevron Corp is delaying repairs to its 245,000 barrel-per-day (bpd) San Francisco Bay refinery in Richmond, California that was hit by a devastating fire in 2012 until late 2014 despite orders from the state's workplace safety regulator, a U.S. Congressman said in a letter on Wednesday.

INTERNATIONAL INTEGRATEDS

Reuters - State-run Petróleo Brasileiro SA or Petrobras, said on Wednesday it plans to install two new oil platforms in the Santos basin's subsalt area this year, adding 300,000 barrels of oil to the daily capacity.

U.S. E&PS

Press Release - Apache Corporation announced today that downtime caused by severe winter storms and outages at third-party owned infrastructure adversely affected the company's oil and gas production from its Permian Basin and Central Region operations during the fourth-quarter 2013.

Press Release - Cobalt International Energy, Inc. today announced the appointment of Gregory S. Sills as Executive Vice President and Chief Development Officer with accountability for the planning and execution of Cobalt`s worldwide projects. This appointment is effective January 27, 2014. Mr. Sills brings to Cobalt more than 34 years of industry experience in global Upstream project management.

Press Release - Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. today announced results from its initial Utica Shale well, the Rector 1H. The Rector 1H tested at a peak rate of 1,680 Bbl/d of condensate, 5.2 MMcf/d of residue gas, and 266 Bbl/d of NGLs, assuming ethane rejection and a natural gas shrink of 7%, or 2,816 Boe/d on a 24/64 in.

(Late Wednesday) Press Release - EQT Corporation today announced the declaration of a quarterly cash dividend of $0.03 per share, payable March 1, 2014, to shareholders of record at the close of business on February 14, 2014.

Tudor Pickering & Co Securities raised their recommendation on Laredo Petroleum to ‘Accumulate’ from ‘Hold.’

(Late Wednesday) Press Release - STONE ENERGY CORPORATION today announced estimated year-end proved reserves and production volumes for 2013, and provided its capital expenditure budget and initial production guidance for 2014. Some of the highlights include: Year-end 2013 estimated proved reserves were 143.9 Mmboe, which represents a 12% increase compared to year-end 2012 estimated proved reserves.

CANADIAN E&PS

Press Release - Birchcliff Energy Ltd. is pleased to report the following record production volumes and updates: 2013 Exit Production Volumes. Estimated daily production during the last two weeks of December 2013 exceeded 30,000 boe per day, exceeding Birchcliff's previously estimated 2013 exit production volumes.

Press Release - Connacher Oil and Gas Limited provides the following operational update for the fourth quarter 2013 ("Q4 2013"). All production related results disclosed herein are based on field estimates. Connacher's Great Divide production for Q4 2013 averaged 11,400 bbl/d. Production was 3% lower than the prior quarter (Q3 2013 11,788 bbl/d). Production in late November and early December was negatively impacted by a temporary reduction in natural gas supply in northern Alberta necessitating a turndown in steam generation, primarily at Algar.

Press Release - Long Run Exploration Ltd. is pleased to announce that the Board of Directors has declared a dividend of $0.0335 per common share and per non-voting convertible share to be paid on February 14, 2014 to shareholders of record at the close of business on January 31, 2014. The ex-dividend date for this dividend is January 29, 2014. Shareholders are advised that this dividend is designated as an "eligible dividend" for Canadian income tax purposes.

OIL SERVICES

Credit Suisse cut Forum Energy Technologies to ‘Neutral’ from ‘Buy.’

Societe Generale raised Oceaneering International and FMC Technologies to ‘Hold’ from ‘Buy.’

Press Release - TETRA Technologies, Inc. today announced that its board of directors has increased the size of the board to eleven members and has appointed Mark E. Baldwin and John "Jay" F. Glick to fill the vacancies created by the increase. Messrs. Baldwin and Glick will each serve as an independent director.

Societe Generale raised Weatherford International to ‘Buy’ from ‘Hold.’

DRILLERS

Clarkson Capital raised Parker Drilling to ‘Outperform’ from ‘Market Perform.’

REFINERS

Reuters - Marathon Petroleum Corp confirmed on Thursday that its hydrocracker unit was shut at its 522,000 barrels-per-day refinery in Garyville, Louisiana, for planned maintenance and project work.

Reuters - Phillips 66 reported "start-up issues" with units at its 362,000-barrels-per-day Wood River refinery in Roxana, Illinois, a filing with state pollution regulators showed.

MLPS

(Late Wednesday) Press Release - El Paso Pipeline Partners, L.P. today reported its quarterly cash distribution per common unit of $0.65 ($2.60 annualized) payable on Feb. 14, 2014, to unitholders of record as of Jan. 31, 2014. This represents a 7 percent increase from the fourth quarter 2012 cash distribution per unit of $0.61 ($2.44 annualized) and remains flat from the third quarter 2013 distribution of $0.65 per unit.

(Late Wednesday) Reuters - Kinder Morgan Energy Partners LP, the largest U.S. pipeline company, said on Wednesday its quarterly income and distributions rose in the fourth quarter, helped by acquisitions. The Houston company's quarterly distribution rose to $1.36 per unit, up 5 percent. Including certain items, net income was $818 million compared with $647 million for the fourth quarter last year.

Press Release - Williams Partners L.P. today announced changes to the Board of Directors of its general partner, Williams Partners GP LLC. Williams owns approximately 64 percent of Williams Partners, including its general partner interest quarter's dividend and 33% over the dividend for the fourth quarter 2012.