Exxon, Chevron lifted by rally in equities, oil

NEW YORK (MarketWatch) � Exxon Mobil Corp. and Chevron Corp. widened their gains by the closing bell on Wednesday as equities and crude-oil futures rallied on the heels of a fiscal-cliff deal in Washington.

Exxon Mobil Corp. XOM �rose 2.5% and Chevron Corp. CVX �advanced by 2.1%. The two oil producers are components of the Dow Jones Industrial Average DJIA , which surged upward by 308 points, or 2.4%. See: U.S. stocks start new year in rally mode.

Reuters A motorist fills up her car at an Exxon gas station in Virginia.

Crude-oil futures CLG3 �rose 1.1% to $92.85 a barrel, providing more fuel for energy stocks. See: Oil futures rise after fiscal-cliff pact.

Among the major benchmarks in the energy sector, the NYSE Arca Oil Index XX:XOI �advanced by 2%, the NYSE Arca Natural Gas Index XX:XNG �moved up by 1% and the Philadelphia Oil Service Index OSX �jumped 2.6%.

The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund XLE , which includes energy stocks contained in the S&P 500 Index SPX , rose 2.2%.

INVESTING STRATEGIES
� Equity markets are dying
� How different is January vs. other months?
� Market will blindside investors in 2013
� Will it be a happy new year for Apple?
� Trading Strategies for January �
� See investing ideas from Trading Deck � /conga/story/misc/investing.html242961

Among stocks in the spotlight, Royal Dutch Shell RDS.A �faces a potential hurdle in its push to explore for oil in the Arctic after one of its drilling rigs ran aground off the coast an uninhabited island in Alaska. Shares of Shell rose 0.8%.

The Kulluk rig operated by Noble Corp. NE �for Shell broke free from ships in the high seas with about 139,000 gallons of fuel and 12,000 gallons of lubrication and hydraulic liquids on board, according to reports.

No signs of a fuel leak were reported by the U.S. Coast Guard, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal.

Foul weather hampered efforts by Shell to get experts aboard the rig to assess the damage and begin salvage efforts.

Just a few weeks ago, a Shell executive told MarketWatch the oil major sees rich potential for Alaska despite difficulties there. See: Why Shell�s bigger U.S. footprint matters.

Also on the move, shares of SunPower Corp. SPWR � rose 9%.

MidAmerican Energy Holdings Co., a subsidiary of Warren Buffett�s Berkshire Hathaway Inc., said it�ll pay an undisclosed sum to buy the 579-megawatt Antelope Valley Solar Projects � two co-located solar power plants in Kern and Los Angeles Counties in California � from SunPower.