Global E&P spending expected to hit record US$723b next year

GLOBAL oil and gas companies are likely to increase their exploration and production (E&P) spending to a record US$723 billion next year, up 6.1 per cent from US$682 billion in 2013, said Barclays Capital in its just-released Global 2014 E&P spending outlook.

"The industry is in the early days of a prolonged upcycle, in our view, and consequently we expect market fundamentals to favour service companies for the next several years," said Barclays.

The bank's overweight recommendations for Asia (excluding Japan) are Hong Kong-listed Anton Oilfield Services, COSL, Hilong Holdings and Singapore-listed Keppel Corp. In the US, Barclays' top overweight stocks for 2014 are the "Big Four", namely Baker Hughes, Halliburton, Schlumberger and Weatherford International.