Big oil lends its weight to advance in FTSE 100

The Footsie was lifted by gains in the oil majors as crude oil futures hit their best level year-to-date in morning trading and analysts weighed in with positive views on BP´s first quarter financials.

Shares in BP ended the session 1.74% higher at 382.45p, alongside an advance of 2.49% to 1,810p for its main London-listed peer, Royal Dutch Shell.

On 26 April, BP delivered much better than expected earnings before interest and taxes of $994m, easily outpacing the company-compiled analyst consensus estimate of $160m thanks to a strong performance by its downstream operations.

Significantly, large reductions to its cash costs meant the company now expected it would be free cash flow positive, after dividends, with the price of a barrel of oil at between $50 to $55 a barrel, versus $60 a barrel before.

"For us this performance on cost savings and improving efficiency is not consistent with a share price that leaves the stock offering close to a 7.5% yield and nearly 50% potential upside to our 550p/sh NAV based price target. BP is our Top Pick in the sector and we rate the stock Overweight," analysts at Barclays said in a research report sent to clients.

The FT Lex column´s corporate finance wonks were of a similar view, telling readers that shares in BP should catch up soon with those of rival Royal Dutch Shell, barring any further 'whoopsies'.

Brent crude futures were higher by 1.85% to $46.61 per barrel as of 19:01 BST after hitting a 2016 high of $46.81 earlier in Wednesday´s session.

Oil prices had recovered after the latest weekly figures from the US Department of Energy revealed that oil stockpiles had risen by 2.0m barrels (consensus: 1.7m), sending futures to an intra-day low.

Royal Dutch Shell was scheduled to release its own first quarter figures on 4 May.

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