NEW YORK, NY / ACCESSWIRE / January 5, 2017 / Energy stocks rose Wednesday as oil prices have trended upwards and after analysts forecasted a weekly decline in U.S. oil stockpiles. The SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP) gained 0.48 percent. In 2016, the ETF posted a gain of 37 percent.

"Energy outperformed in 2016, and if OPEC delivers, it will happen again in 2017," Bernstein analysts wrote in a note to clients Wednesday.

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Oil prices retreated slightly Wednesday after a sharp spike the day prior. U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures declined 0.24 percent, or $0.13, to settle at $53.13 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Brent crude futures declined 0.37 percent, or $0.21, to settle at $56.25 a barrel on ICE Futures Europe. U.S. crude stockpiles are expected to fall by 1.7 million barrels last week, according to analysts surveyed by Reuters. The Wall Street Journal's survey of 10 analysts forecasts stockpiles to drop by 2 million barrels.

Chevron Corporation (NYSE: CVX)

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Chevron shares declined 0.03 percent to close at $117.82 a share Wednesday. The stock traded between $117.60 and $118.65 on volume of 6.68 million shares traded. On December 7th, the company announced a $19.8 billion capital and exploratory investment program for 2017, representing a reduction of 42 percent from 2015 outlays and at least 15 percent lower than projected 2016 capital investments.

"Our spending for 2017 targets shorter-cycle time, high-return investments and completing major projects under construction. In fact, over 70 percent of our planned upstream investment program is expected to generate production within two years," said Chairman and CEO John Watson. "This is the fourth consecutive year of spending reductions. Construction is nearing completion on several major capital projects, which are now online or expected to come online in the next few quarters. This combination of lower spending and growth in production revenues supports our overall objective of becoming cash balanced in 2017."

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP)

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ConocoPhillips' shares gained 0.93 percent to close at $51.08 a share Wednesday. The stock traded between $50.32 and $51.10 on volume of 4.99 million shares traded. On Dec 14, 2016, ConocoPhillips announced completion of its planned 2016 asset dispositions. The company generated approximately $1.3 billion of proceeds from asset dispositions in 2016. Production guidance for 2016 remains unchanged at 1,560 to 1,570 MBOED. Production in 2017, excluding Libya, is expected to range from flat to 2 percent growth compared with 2016 when adjusted for the full-year impact of the 2016 dispositions.

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