Oil And Gas Companies Rise With Oil On Bank Plan

NEW YORK (AP) — Shares of oil and gas companies jumped on Monday along with the broader market and the price of crude oil and natural gas, as investors were encouraged by the government's new plan to remove troubled assets from the nation's banking system.

Benchmark crude for May delivery rose $1.73 to settle at $53.80 a barrel in trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Natural gas prices gained 7.9 cents, or 1.8 percent, to $4.385 per thousand cubic feet.

Shares of Exxon Mobil Corp., world's largest publicly traded oil company, rose $4.47, or 6.8 percent, to $70.56 in Monday afternoon trading. The world's largest oil field services company, Schlumberger Ltd., gained $5.07, or 12 percent, to $46.59. Chesapeake Energy Corp., the biggest gas producer in the U.S., saw its shares rise $1.86, or 10.5 percent, to $19.50.

Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner introduced the government's latest plan to revive the economy, which seeks to combine government and private resources to purchase an initial half-trillion dollars of bad assets off the balance sheets of banks. The plan could grow to $1 trillion.

In an analyst note on Monday Deutsche Bank said it believes that restoring the banking system is a "prerequisite" for spurring economic recovery.