Commodities

President-elect Donald Trump has expanded the circle of candidates that could be named secretary of state including ExxonMobil CEO Rex Tillerson. WSJ's Lee Hawkins explains. Photo: AP

Oil futures settled in the green Monday, but pared a firmer rise, as the industry continues to enjoy a bounce inspired by OPEC's historic agreement to cut production. Crude-oil futures traded in positive territory throughout much of the session after shaking off concerns about Italy's rejection of a vote on existing rules to its constitution that resulted in the resignation of Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi. Some energy strategists, however, expressed doubts over the ability of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and other major oil producers to follow through on plans on complying with and enforcing limits on oil output. West Texas Intermediate crude oil ended up 11 cents, or 0.2%, higher at $51.79 a barrel, but the contract had traded as high as $52.42 a barrel early in New York.

The oil market cheered the decision by oil producers to cut back on output, but the true winner may be the U.S. shale oil industry.

Chesapeake Energy’s stock surged to a near 3-month high in active trade after the oil-and-gas company said it took in $450 million from more land and property sales.

Shares of Chesapeake Energy Corp. surged 2.9% in active morning trade Monday, after the oil and gas company announced $450 million in asset sales. Trading volume of 17.7 million shares makes the stock the second-most active on the major U.S. exchanges. The company said it reached a deal to sell a portion of the acreage and properties in its Haynesville Shale area in northern Louisiana, including 78,000 net acres, to a private company. Chesapeake said it has now reached $2 billion in gross proceeds from asset sales, as part of its long-term target to reach $2 billion to $3 billion in debt reduction. Analyst Neal Dingmann reiterated his buy rating on the company, saying the deal should help the company reach its leverage goals. "Our thesis remains that the company's massive acreage position...ensures adequate upcoming liquidity/leverage growth," Dingmann wrote in a note to clients. The stock

Saudi Arabia is the big winner in new OPEC output cut. What about Iran and Russia?

Oil futures finish higher Friday, scoring a weekly gain of more than 12% as traders weigh the potential for the success of OPEC’s output deal.

Gold futures settled higher Friday, with a retreat in the U.S. dollar and weakness in Treasury yields boosting the metal's investment appeal. February gold rose $8.40, or 0.7%, to settle at $1,177.80 an ounce for the session. For the week, prices lost less than 0.1% from the $1,178.40 settlement of the most-active December contract a week ago.