Shares of energy companies fell as traders reconsidered bets that supply-and-demand were returning to equilibrium.
The number of rigs exploring for oil in the U.S. increased for the eighth straight week last week, according to a tally from oil-field services company Baker Hughes.
Shares of Exxon Mobil fell sharply after the Securities and Exchange Commission reportedly launched an investigation of the largest U.S. oil company, responding to an employee's whistleblower complaint last fall alleging that the energy giant overvalued one of its most important oil and gas properties, a key prospect on the Permian Basin of West Texas.
Total exited the American Petroleum Institute, a lobbying group that counts major oil companies among its members, after deciding it wasn't aligned with the organization on climate change.
Write to Rob Curran at rob.curran@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
01-15-21 1631ET
