Why Patterson-UTI, Halliburton, and Schlumberger Jumped 10% or More Today

Shares of drilling services giant Schlumberger NV (NYSE: SLB) rallied as much as 11.5% in early trading on May 18. Energy sector peer Patterson-UTI Energy (NASDAQ: PTEN) jumped nearly 14%. And Halliburton Company (NYSE: HAL) topped out at just under 15%. The companies gave back a portion of those gains as the day wore on, but by around 2:30 p.m. EDT, they were still up roughly 10%, 11%, and 13.5%, respectively. The reason for the big uptick isn't hard to figure out. Oil prices were in rally mode, with investors spreading the love throughout the entire sector -- including energy services names.

Oil prices have faced a series of material headwinds of late. Coming into the year, the supply/demand equation was tilted a little too heavily toward oversupply because of the U.S. onshore drilling sector's more than decade-long rise on the global stage. The extra oil basically upended the normal functioning of energy markets the world over.

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