Short Interest: Refiners Get Most of the Action in Oil and Gas Stocks (BHI, BP, CHK, CVX, COP, EPD, XOM, KMI, NOV, PSX, SLB, RIG, VLO)

We have tracked the key short interest changes in the following oil and gas leaders: Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI), BP PLC (NYSE: BP), Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK), Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX), ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP), Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD), Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM), Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI), National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV), Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX), Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB), Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) and Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO).

With the exception of Chesapeake, which is seen as primarily a natural gas company with lots of problems, the oil and gas firms are not heavily shorted. Short interest rose in the services companies, while one of the two refiners on our list — Phillips 66 — posted a substantial rise in short interest. As crude prices decline, refiners stand to gain the most and services companies feel pressure. Transocean saw a sharp rise in short interest following a Brazilian court order for the company to get out of the country.

Baker Hughes Inc. (NYSE: BHI) saw short interest fall 10.4% to 15.1 million shares, 3.5% of the company’s total float.

BP PLC (NYSE: BP) short interest fell 29.2% to 5.97 million shares, which represents just 0.2% of the company’s float.

Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) saw a 10.3% drop in short interest to 78.33 million shares, which represents about 11.9% of the firm’s float.

Chevron Corp. (NYSE: CVX) short interest fell 22.2% to 18.68 million shares, which represents just 1% of the company’s float.

ConocoPhillips (NYSE: COP) saw a 4.2% drop in short interest to 23.41 million shares, which represents 2% of the firm’s float.

Enterprise Products Partners L.P. (NYSE: EPD) saw short interest 12.4% to 3.26 million shares, just 0.6% of the company’s total float.

Exxon Mobil Corp. (NYSE: XOM) saw short interest rise 4% to 41.1 million shares, just 0.9% of the company’s total float.

Kinder Morgan Inc. (NYSE: KMI) short interest fell 2.1% to 8.42 million shares, which represents 1.7% of the company’s float.

National Oilwell Varco Inc. (NYSE: NOV) saw short interest fall 24.3% to 4.71 million shares, about 1.1% of the company’s total float.

Phillips 66 (NYSE: PSX) saw a 47.1% rise in short interest to 8.33 million shares, which represents 1.3% of the firm’s float.

Schlumberger Ltd. (NYSE: SLB) short interest fell 3% to 12.55 million shares, which represents 0.9% of the company’s float.

Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) saw a 36.8% rise in short interest to 4.64 million shares, which represents 1.3% of the firm’s float.

Valero Energy Corp. (NYSE: VLO) saw a 27.3% drop in short interest to 10.57 million shares, which represents 1.9% of the firm’s float.

Paul Ausick