Will '18 be different animal for O&G?

After a strong 2018 start, oil prices fell a little Jan. 5. Geopolitical tensions and inventory draw-downs were the main reasons for the initial rise, but a build-up of gasoline stocks slowed both West Texas Intermediary (WTI) and Brent Crude's price momentums. The fallback appears to be partly due to oil traders selling off some gasoline stocks on Jan. 4 to pocket from recent gains. Energy stocks under-performed in 2017 versus the broader stock market, even when oil prices were rebounding. But 2018 may be a different animal. Oil prices are at their highest since mid-2015. The outlook for energy stocks appears to be brighter. Secondly, a number of firms have trimmed costs. Oil majors have returned to positive cash flow, which may give potential investors more confidence in those O&G stocks. 2017 was challenging for investors. Investment banks (UBS, RBC, JP Morgan) issued strong positive outlooks for the O&G recently, according to Reuters. (Source: Oil Price 01/05/18)