However, we still see an oil price rebound into year-end
Looking at the near-term, however, we still believe oil prices will rebound into year-end
on a combination of factors. First, we see an accelerating decline in non-OPEC oil supply
kicking in over the next few months, with US oil output alone set to drop by 1 million b/d
by 2H16. Second, increased Chinese and EM monetary stimulus could lend temporary
support to oil demand. Last but not least, global oil consumption should pick up on a
seasonal basis by more than 1 million b/d heading into the winter, preventing further
stock builds near-term. Moreover, we now project Brent-WTI spreads to trade at around
$2/bbl on average in 2016 and 2017, against an average of $11/bbl in the last 5 years.
Also, OPEC may surprise with a cut to keep Brent >$50/bbl
Lastly, we believe OPEC could react to low oil prices if EM demand falters. While OPEC
fiscal budget break-evens have increased in recent years, Saudi can fund its deficit via
government reserves and local debt as long as Brent stays in a $55 to $70/bbl range.
However, Saudi cannot sustain its spending sub $40/bbl for very long, on our estimates.
APAC O&G 2016/17 EPS cut by 17-18%; POs cut 10%
We revise down APAC O&G 2016-17E EPS by 17 and 18% respectively. As a sector, we
lower our POs by 10% on average, as we move our PO methodology from DCF to
EV/DACF. When the near-term oil price volatility is high and the timing of return to LT
oil price is uncertain, we believe EV/DACF is a better value matrix than DCF. Notable
changes are PetroChina’s downgrade to Neutral with PO cut by 30% to HK$7 (from
HK$10), ONGC’s PO cut by 25% to INR 305 (from INR 408) and PTTEP’s PO cut 20% to
THB105 (from THB131). See Table 2 for additional details.
Bearish on upstream E&P; CNOOC best short-term beta play
Our new oil price forecasts are slightly higher than the forward strip but lower by $5-10
vs. the implied oil prices based on consensus forecasts. We expect continuous downward
earning revision in the upstream E&P and prefer mid/downstream for structural low cost
benefits. However, in the near-term, we note short term opportunities open with oil
prices set to recover from the 7-year low of $40 to $55 by end-2015. On Thursday, oil
rallied $5 already. We believe CNOOC (883 HK, BUY, PO HK11) would be the best beta
play in this environment given its historical high correction between oil price vs share
prices. CNOOC’s is the region’s rare pure E&P with high oil ratio of 80% of total sales.