It was a week where crude prices remained below the psychologically important $50 threshold but natural gas spiked on cold weather forecasts. On the news front, Whiting Petroleum Corp.’s (WLL - Snapshot Report) shares shot up 11% on rumors that the company is up for sale.

Overall, it was a mixed week for the sector. While West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were down slightly (by 0.3%) to close at $49.61 per barrel, natural gas prices gained around 4% to $2.84 per million Btu (MMBtu). (See the last ‘Oil & Gas Stock Roundup’ here: Crude Revisits Sub-$50; Chesapeake, Encana Earnings Disappoint.)

Oil prices fell for the third successive week, again spooked by the U.S. Energy Department's latest inventory release. The federal government’s EIA report revealed that crude stockpiles recorded another massive build, the eighth in a row. At 444.37 million barrels, current crude supplies are up 22.2% from the year-ago period and is at the highest level during this time of the year in at least 80 years. Moreover, a stronger dollar has made the greenback-priced crude dearer for investors holding foreign currency.

Investors, however, took some solace from the Baker Hughes report that showed another sharp drop in oil-directed rigs, indicating a brake in shale drilling activities. This is seen as a precursor to a slowdown in oil production leading to a subsequent drop in the commodity’s bloated supply level.

Natural gas though fared well, as it was buoyed by a higher-than-expected supply drawdown. Things were made better by expectations of cranked up heating demand with forecasts of cooler-than-normal weather across the key U.S. markets during the next few days.

Recap of the Week’s Most Important Stories

1. Per media reports, Whiting Petroleum Corp. is looking for a buyer and has hired bankers for the same. A weak pricing market is anticipated to be the reason. The news, however, brought good tidings for the company as shares gained nearly 11% on the NYSE.

Exploration & production firms like Whiting have seen tough times lately amid the plunge in crude prices. Whiting shares have fallen over 50% since June last year, indicating its co-relation to crude prices which have seen a similar decline. Challenged financials have probably set the company looking for a bigger fish to offload its troubles. Whiting had made a similar sale attempt in 2012 but it did not come to fruition as buyers were not happy with the asked price.

2.    Exxon Mobil Corp. (XOM - Analyst Report) raised $8 billion of debt in its biggest bond offering since the crude prices started falling last June, according to Bloomberg. The debts were issued through a combination of fixed cum floating rate notes divided into seven parts.

Reportedly, the energy behemoth initially planned to raise $7 billion, but boosted the deal by about 14% to $8 billion. ExxonMobil plans to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including acquisitions, capital expenditures and refinancing. (See More: Exxon Mobil to Meet Corporate Needs with $8B in Debt Issue.)

3.    Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS.A- Analyst Report) announced that it would offer its shareholders the option of Scrip dividend – receiving company stock instead of cash dividend – from the first quarter of 2015. The company further added that that only A Shares would be issued, even to investors holding B Shares.

The integrated energy major had earlier offered scrip dividend from 2010 through May, last year. However, the program was terminated as it intended to increase focus on share buybacks and cash payments. So, we are back to square one. This does not really come as a surprise as many big energy firms turn to scrip dividends when generating cash becomes a challenge in times of tumbling commodity prices. (See More: Shell Restarts Scrip Dividend Program: A Logical Move?.)

4.    North American midstream energy giant Kinder Morgan Inc. (KMI -Analyst Report) priced €1.25 billion of euro-denominated bonds. This will mark the company’s first issuance of bond offering in euros. The bonds are divided into two parts. The first part consists of bonds with issue price of 750 million euro, carrying a coupon rate of 1.50%. This is slated to mature on Mar 16, 2022. The second part consists of bonds with issue price of 500 million euro, carrying a coupon rate of 2.25%. This part is slated to mature on Mar 16, 2027.

It is a smart move by the company to enter the European market at a time of record low borrowing costs and a favorable currency exchange rate.

5.    British oil giant BP plc (BP - Analyst Report) again struck gas in the North Damietta Offshore Concession in the East Nile Delta. Currently being drilled using the 6th generation semi-submersible rig Maersk Discoverer, the Atoll-1 deepwater exploration well, reached a depth of 6,400 meters and penetrated about 50 meters of gas pay in high quality Oligocene sandstones.

A major find, Atoll-1 is considered to be the deepest well ever drilled in Egypt. BP has a 100% stake in the discovery. The concession is estimated to have a potential of more than 5 trillion cubic feet.

Price Performance

The following table shows the price movement of the major oil and gas players over the past week and during the last 6 months.

Over the course of last week, most of the market heavyweights witnessed losses with the major sufferer being Transocean Ltd. (RIG - Analyst Report). The offshore driller fell 9.1% during the period. With oil prices down 50% since June and energy companies cutting costs by scaling back drilling, the likes of Transocean is having to deal with less orders.

Over the last 6 months, downstream operator Tesoro Corp. (TSO - Analyst Report) has been the chief beneficiary on the bourses with its shares advancing 32.9%. Investors have rewarded the company for its continued focus on shareholder returns. Meanwhile, Transocean was again the laggard, as it witnessed a 60.8% price decline over the same time frame on the back of rig oversupply that has led the industry into a cyclical downturn.

What’s Next in the Energy World?

Apart from the usual releases in this week – the U.S. government data on oil and natural gas – market participants will be closely tracking a series of crucial economic reports, including those on retail sales, wholesale and business inventories as well as PPI.