Don't over-react to the prospects of sector-wide O&G recovery

AHEAD of the Year of the Rooster, some analysts have urged investors to wake up to the promise that resurgent oil prices may augur for listed counters in the oil and gas-driven sectors.

OCBC's head of research Carmen Lee predicted "more upside than downside" on "an oil price uptrend" now that oil stocks are trading at less than half their book values, with "all negatives (almost) priced in".

A Jan 4 Deutsche Bank (DB) Markets Research note said that for beleaguered offshore and marine (O&M) players, 2017 will offer "more sanctioned offshore projects" and "higher oil prices". Citing Wood Mackenzie, the DB note said that up to 25 pre-FID (final investment decision) projects were slated to be sanctioned in 2017, compared with eight in 2016.