Hi Herb;
Analyist at Research Capital predicting a strong run-up in shares of oil and gas companies in the next two to three months:
Canadian Oil Shares Creep Toward Record Highs 08:55 EDT Wednesday, September 06, 2000
CALGARY (Reuters) - Canadian energy stocks crept back up toward record highs on Tuesday as the prices of both oil and natural gas surged on fears of a supply squeeze across North America this winter.
The Toronto Stock Exchange's oil and gas subindex, which includes the shares of producers, integrated oil companies and oil field service firms, closed up 163.56 points, or about 2.1 percent, to 7913.06.
That is a scant 118 points, or 1.5 percent, below its record high, set in early October 1997.
Gainers included Canadian Occidental Petroleum Ltd., up C$1.05 to C$41.05, Imperial Oil Ltd., up C$1.50 to C$38.70, Alberta Energy Co. Ltd., up C$2.10 to C$57.05, and Anderson Exploration Ltd., which rose 70 Canadian cents to hit an all-time high of C$32.
``The stage is set now for a very strong runup in oil and gas stocks over the next two or three months,'' said analyst Peter Linder of Research Capital Corp. ``What you've got here is all the right ingredients.''
Oil prices have clung to post-Persian Gulf war highs despite market expectations that the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries will call for further production increases under its so-called price band mechanism at its September 10 meeting.
U.S. benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude closed up 45 cents a barrel on Tuesday to $33.83, near its 10-year high.
Energy stocks are also reaping the benefits of natural gas prices, which have hit records in both Canada and the United States even before winter weather sets in.
Canadian spot gas traded as high as C$6.11 a gigajoule on Tuesday, nearly double the price of a year ago, while NYMEX U.S. gas settled at $4.95 per million British thermal units, compared with about $2.56 12 months ago.
Analysts have said natural gas prices have been pushed up by storage volume figures, which continue to lag last year's, as well as shortfalls in supplies of oil and other
petroleum products.
Linder said he believed Canadian gas prices could touch an unprecedented C$8 per gigajoule after November 1, if cold weather descends on North America. |
