Crude climbed 10%-plus this week after strike on Saudi oil facilities (NYSEARCA:XLE)

Energy (NYSEARCA:XLE) sprinted to the top of this week’s sector standings by a wide margin, +6.6%, and every member of the S&P 500 Energy Index gained Friday, riding a rally in crude prices after Yemen’s Houthi rebels claimed a series of attacks on Saudi Aramco oil storage facilities.

May WTI crude (CL1:COM) closed +10.5% for the week at $113.90/bbl, and May Brent crude (CO1:COM) settled +12% at $120.65/bbl.

The attacks likely will cause some short-term operational disruptions and may temporarily reduce Saudi supply, Global X Management’s Rohan Reddy told Bloomberg; it comes “at a time when supply risk is higher than it had been in years. This is only going to make the supply demand deficit worse,” Price Futures Group’s Phil Flynn told MarketWatch.

The U.S. and U.K. have moved to ban Russian oil in response to the invasion of Ukraine, but China and India appear to be soaking up some of the barrels, and Russia is aiming next month to ship the largest amount of its flagship Urals crude in nearly three years.

Meanwhile, U.S. natural gas (NG1:COM) soared 15% for the week to $5.571/MMBtu, the highest close since late January, boosted by bullish sentiment from the news that the U.S. will increase shipments of LNG to Europe in an effort to reduce the European Union’s dependency on Russian gas.

Many analysts say the news does not change the fundamentals for the U.S. domestic market, since U.S. LNG facilities already have been running at full-tilt, so more U.S. gas to Europe would only mean less U.S. LNG to Asia.

The week’s top 10 gainers in energy and natural resources – NASDAQ:NEXT +77.6%, TELL +48.6%, CRK +36.5%, HMLP +35.7%, BPT +31.3%, SJT +30.1%, FLNG +29.7%, IPI +29.1%, MTR +28.7%, SWN +28.6%.

The week’s top 5 decliners in energy and natural resources – INDO -30.4%, SPI -19.9%, GATO -17.2%, AMPS -15.9%, LITM -13.9%.

Source: Barchart.com