Energy shares soar alongside crude, natgas

HOUSTON (Reuters) - A jump in crude oil and natural gas prices sparked a broad rally in the U.S. energy sector on Tuesday, sending shares of big oil companies ConocoPhillips (COP.N) and Chevron Corp (CVX.N) up 6 percent.

New York Mercantile Exchange crude oil futures surged 10 percent, boosted by signals that OPEC members were cutting production and by a weaker dollar. NYMEX natural gas futures spiked more than 6 percent.

Those gains in commodity prices provided equity investors with incentive to buy energy stocks, which have taken a beating in recent weeks.

"I think this is a situation where the stocks have gone so low, they have to go up. They've been hit pretty hard," said Peter Klein, senior portfolio manager at Fifth Third Asset Management.

Among the larger independent U.S. oil and gas companies, EOG Resources Inc (EOG.N) shares soared almost 10 percent to $83.14, helped by the gains in crude and gas and by better than expected third-quarter earnings.

The Philadelphia Stock Exchange index of oil service companies .OSX, which includes Halliburton Co (HAL.N) and Transocean Inc (RIG.N), was up more than 7 percent to the highest level in two weeks.

Shares of ConocoPhillips were up $3.45 at $55.01, while Chevron climbed $4.36 at $78.05 in afternoon trading on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Anna Driver, editing by Gerald E. McCormick)