Barclays downgrades Royal Dutch Shell to 'equalweight'

Analysts at Barclays downgraded their recommendation on shares of Royal Dutch Shell even as they kicked off coverage of the biggest US oil names at 'overweight'.

In a research note sent to clients, the broker said that in the latest edition of its Oil&Gas Benchmarks, it had downgraded its view on Shell from 'overweight' to 'equalweight' with Total replacing it as its 'top pick' in Europe.

Spanish oil major Repsol was also handed a downgrade, to 'underweight'.

Chevron (Target price: $145), Exxon (Target price: $73) and Conoco (Target price: $79) on the other hand were all started at 'overweight'.

Its view on the industry was unchanged at 'positive'.