Energy Stocks: BP downgraded, energy stocks mixed on supply data

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) � Energy stocks ended mixed on Wednesday as bearish U.S. petroleum supply figures weighed on the sector.

Crude oil futures maintained their upward path, however, rising 0.3% to $98.71 a barrel. See: Futures Movers for more on oil prices.

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Checking the major energy sector benchmarks, the NYSE Arca Oil Index XX:XOI fell 0.5%. The NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index XX:XNG � �rose 0.3% and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index OSX � lost about 0.2%.

Energy stocks in the Standard & Poor�s 500 Index SPX �fell about 0.2% after rising earlier in the day.

Weekly data from the Energy Information Administration showed a gain of 300,000 barrels in oil supplies.

While the figure was lower than the analyst estimate for an increase of more than two million barrels, it differed greatly from the most recent supply figure from the American Petroleum Institute, which showed a steep drop of 4.5 million barrels in the past week.

Among decliners, Denburgy Resources DNR fell 1.9% and Cabot Oil & Gas COG �lost 2.9%.

BP PLC BP �rose 0.8% despite a downgrade to hold from buy at Societe Generale.

Analysts cited legal uncertainty over the company�s 2010 oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico as the main reason for the cut. BP faces a Feb. 27 start of a trial over liabilities for the accident that killed 11 workers and caused the biggest maritime oil spill in U.S. history.

�The impossibility of �calling� the legal outcome, leads us tactically to a hold rating, following a year of outperformance,� the analysts said.

Since BP will be last to submit evidence, the trial �may lead to material and possibly negative initial newsflow,� analysts said.

Superior Energy Services SPN �rose 0.3% after it closed its acquisition of Complete Production Services Inc. for about $550 million in cash.

Analysts at Tudor Pickering Holt said the deal �creates a diversified midcap service player� of about $5 billion with significant North American exposure and service line diversification in the coiled tubing business.