Hot Stocks Oil and gas counters gain after Russia says keen to talk to OPEC on output cuts

by **Cals** Thu 28 Jan 2016, 22:13

Hot Stocks
Oil and gas counters gain after Russia says keen to talk to OPEC on output cuts
By Yimie Yong / theedgemarkets.com | January 28, 2016 : 2:39 PM MYT.KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 28): Share price of oil and gas counters gained in early trades today following news of Russia's decision to discuss with Saudi Arabia and the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) about production cuts.
At 2.09pm, SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 1.40, Fundamental: 0.65) was up 3 sen or 1.82% at RM1.68, after some 9.6 million shares were exchanged.
Bumi Armada Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 1.20, Fundamental: 0.40) rose 4 sen or 4.19% to 99.5 sen, with 11 million shares traded. The counter earlier rose as much as 6.81% or 6.5 sen to reach a high of RM1.02 in the morning session.
Yinson Holdings Bhd ([You must be registered and logged in to see this image.] Valuation: 1.80, Fundamental: 1.50) was up 2 sen or 0.78% at RM2.60, while Dialog Group Bhd (Valuation: 1.10, Fundamental: 2.30) gained 2 sen or 1.32% to RM1.54.
Kenanga Research analyst Sean Lim said the news is positive to the oil and gas sector.
"Although we don't know when will the discussions conclude, it is positive to the industry. At least non-OPEC producers like Russia has soften their stance," he told theedgemarkets.com when contacted over the phone.
He said OPEC and non-OPEC producers have been reluctant to reduce output to defend their market share so far. Russia is one of the largest non-OPEC oil producers, Lim noted.
Meanwhile, a Singapore-based investment bank analyst told theedgemarkets.com it is not easy to reach an agreement for cooperation, even if discussions are to be held.
Reuters reported that Russian officials have decided they should talk to Saudi Arabia and other OPEC countries about output cuts to bolster oil prices, the head of Russia's pipeline monopoly said on Wednesday, remarks that helped spur a sharp rise in world prices.
Oil futures surged more than 5% after the comments by Nikolai Tokarev, head of oil pipeline monopoly Transneft, which gave the strongest hint yet of possible cooperation between the top non-OPEC oil producer and the cartel to try to reverse a record glut.
(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company's profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)