Companies in the sector include those involved in exploration, extraction, refining, transporting and marketing of petroleum products. The sector may be split into upstream (exploration, development and production of crude oil or natural gas) and downstream (oil transportation, refining and selling to retailers and consumers).
Integrated oil and gas companies engage in the exploration, production, refinement and distribution of oil and gas. Exploration and production (E&P) companies concentrate on finding hydrocarbon reservoirs, drilling oil and gas wells with a view to producing and selling product for refining. Drilling and Service companies are contract drilling companies who drill wells for the E&P companies. The Oil & Gas sector has experienced an especially tough few years with weak demand and low prices with crude prices always highly influential in its fortunes.
Analysts
Peter Hitchens
Peter has 30 years’ experience as an analyst in the Oil industry. Prior to joining Progressive, Peter worked as an Exploration and Production analyst at HSBC. Before this, he was an E&P analyst at Panmure Gordon. Peter has also held oil analyst positions at Williams de Broë, Cheuvreux, Seymour Pierce and Lehman Brothers, and has been Starmine-rated on several occasions. Peter studied Chemical Engineering at University College London.
Tony Alves
Tony has worked within the oil and gas industry for over 30 years, including over 20 years as one of the leading equity analysts covering the sector. He was Head of Oil and Gas research for Peel Hunt and worked at Investec for 16 years prior to this. In these capacities, he was closely involved with IPOs and financings for several successful oil companies. He has also worked in Investment Research with The Bell Group International and Project Finance with Schroders. He read Mathematics at Cambridge University, both as an undergraduate and a post-graduate research student.
