US energy companies gain on crude oil inventory fall, Venezuela supply worries

S&P 500 energy index .SPNY rises 1.5%, tracking a rise in oil prices O/R

Brent crude futures LCOc1 up 0.7% at $73.97/barrel; U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures CLc1 up 1.4% at $69.93/barrel

Oil prices rose buoyed by government data showing U.S. crude oil and fuel inventories fell last week and by mounting concerns about tighter global supply following the threat of U.S. tariffs on nations buying Venezuelan crude

Crude inventories fell by 3.3 million barrels to 433.6 million barrels in the week ended March 21, the EIA said, a deeper draw than the 956,000 barrels that analysts had expected

Oil and gas majors Exxon Mobil XOM.N up 1.9% and Chevron CVX.N up 1.5%

EOG Resources EOG.N, Occidental Petroleum OXY.N, Valero Energy VLO.N and Texas Pacific Land Corp TPL.N up between 2.3% and 2.8%; among the top percentage gainers on the energy index

Oilfield services companies SLB SLB.N up 1.9% and Halliburton HAL.N up 1.6%

Refiners Marathon Petroleum MPC.N up 1.7% and HF Sinclair DINO.N up 2.2%