Sector movers: Oil stocks rise as crude rally continues, BP impresses

Oil and gas producers were tracking the continued rally in crude on Tuesday, with strong gains from BP supporting the sector.

Brent futures for March delivery were up 1.8% at $55.71 a barrel in afternoon trade, rising for the fourth straight session as a mass refinery strike in the States continued.

The industrial action, coordinated by the United Steelworkers (USW) union, includes workers from over 200 US refineries and facilities, accounting for around a tenth of US refining capacity.

Yet more cuts to investment plans by global oil majors also boosted prices, on expectations that a slowdown in drilling will ease the supply-demand imbalance that has hammered prices over the last few months.

BP, which impressed the market with its fourth-quarter results, also slashed its organic capital expenditure budget for 2015 to $20bn, well below its previous guidance of $24bn-26bn.

Mike van Dulken from Accendo Markets said: “More capex cuts in the industry highlight the long-term impact of the recent declines in the oil price with much investment taking time before bearing fruit. But it also suggests reaction which may come to restrict supply in the future, thus helping the oil price recover.”

BP swung to a non-adjusted loss in the fourth quarter after taking $3.6bn of impairment charges due to the lower oil price. However, underlying profits fell just 20% year-on-year to $2.2bn, much less than the 40% drop anticipated by analysts. The stock was up nearly 3%.

Natural gas company BG Group also gained 0.8% despite reporting net losses widened to $5.03bn in the fourth quarter from $1.07bn the previous year, after an $8.9bn impairment charge due to lower commodity prices.

Struggling oil explorer Afren, meanwhile, continued to rebound as concerns eased over its funding issues after lenders allowed it to defer a debt payment.

Others in the sector such was Shell, Ophir Energy, Genel Energy and Premier Oil also rose.

Top performing sectors so far today
Oil Equipment, Services & Distribution 16,796.88 +4.27%
Mining 14,387.66 +3.75%
Industrial Engineering 9,193.23 +3.70%
Oil & Gas Producers 7,412.13 +3.11%
Industrial Metals & Mining 1,698.90 +2.07%

Bottom performing sectors so far today
Beverages 14,847.28 -0.86%
Chemicals 11,185.96 -0.83%
Tobacco 43,728.00 -0.79%
Food Producers & Processors 8,215.66 -0.60%
Personal Goods 26,977.81 -0.28%