NEW YORK (AFX) -- Oil and gas stocks finished the week narrowly mixed, shrugging off late gains in the spot crude oil market, while oil service stocks racked up a fourth consecutive day of gains - the best performing group this week.
The Amex Oil Index finished the session with a 0.2% loss at 1,058.72 points, up 0.4% for the week, while the Amex Natural Gas Index closed nearly unchanged at 404.44 points, leaving the index with a 1% loss for the week.
The Philadelphia Oil Service Index ended the session with a 0.2% gain at 202.84 points, good for a 1.9% advance from last Friday's close.
Broker upgrades for EOG Resources and Exxon Mobil sounded early buy signals in Friday's market.
Friedman Billings Ramsey raised its recommendation on Exxon Mobil Corp. to outperform from market perform because 'it is the most defensive stock among the major integrated oils and has historically outperformed its peers when commodity prices have been flat to declining, which is what we expect this year.'
The stock rose 13 cents to close at $60.98, extending gains from the three previous sessions.
Analyst Jacques Rousseau raised the price target to $72 a share from $67 based on new reserve and cost data the company provided in its annual report.
'The last calendar year that Exxon Mobil was the top-performing stock in the peer group was 1998, when crude oil, natural gas and refining margins all declined vs. the previous year,' he said in a note to clients.
Soleil Securities upgraded EOG Resources Inc. to hold from sell, raised the 2006 earnings estimate to $6.05 from $5.27 and increased the price target to $70 since the stock beat the earlier target of $58.
'The stock has corrected off its high and we believe its timely hedging strategy will ensure earnings growth this year, even though natural gas prices are likely to be flat to down this year,' Soleil said in a note to clients.
Shares in EOG added $1.03 to close at $70.35
U.S.-traded shares of BP rose 24 cents to $67.15.
British utility Centrica said it exercised its right to buy BP's 4.84% interest in the North Sea Statfjord oil and gas field for $266 million, doubling its stake in the field.
The acquisition will add about 65 billion cubic feet of gas and 14.5 million barrels of oil to Centrica's portfolio.
U.S.-traded shares of Centrica eased 22 cents to close at $30.32.
Separately, BP on Thursday said it shut in 100,000 barrels a day of crude production in Alaska after an oil spill at a pipeline.
In other news from the far north, Chevron Corp. said it acquired five heavy-oil leases in the Athabasca region of northern Alberta. The leases cover 75,000 acres, with an estimated 7.5 billion barrels of oil in place. Financial terms were not disclosed.
Chevron shares ended Friday with a 4-cent loss at $56.97.
The New York Mercantile Exchange's April crude contract rose 31 cents to $63.67 a barrel ahead of March 6 meeting between Iran and the United Nations National Security Council over Tehran's nuclear program, and a March 8 gathering of OPEC members in Vienna to discuss production quotas.
For the week, crude oil prices posted a 1.2% gain to end at a fresh three-week high.
Meanwhile, the Nymex April natural gas futures contract rose 3 cents to $6.79 per million British thermal units, ending with a 7.2% decline from last Friday, while unleaded gasoline futures rose 5.06 cents to $1.7431 a gallon, up 8% from a week ago. . This story was supplied by MarketWatch. For further information see www.marketwatch.com.