By Justina Lee


Shares of Hong-Kong listed Chinese oil stocks are higher in Monday trade ahead of the monthly meeting of OPEC+, where the production outlook will be discussed.

PetroChina Co. is the top gainer among the three Chinese oil majors, rising as much as 3.0% to 3.78 Hong Kong dollars (US$0.48) early in the session. It was last up 2.5%. Cnooc Ltd. was also up 2.5% while China Petroleum & Chemical Corp. had gained 2.2%.

Traders are keeping a close watch on the meeting of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and its allies amid concerns over China's tightened Covid-19 measures and central banks' hawkish stance against high inflation.

The group of oil producers is expected to keep levels steady at the meeting, The Wall Street Journal reported earlier, citing unnamed sources.

"While we expect the [OPEC+] group to keep output unchanged, the rhetoric may be bullish as it looks to arrest the recent fall in [oil] prices," ANZ analysts said in a note on Monday.

Although the outlook for oil is uncertain as Beijing's Covid-19 restrictions threaten to mute the demand recovery, Citi analysts said in a note that upstream oil majors like PetroChina and Cnooc will still deliver good profits, noting that refinery utilization in China has improved.

Citi names PetroChina and Cnooc as its preferred picks in the Chinese oil sector.


Write to Justina Lee at justina.lee@wsj.com


(END) Dow Jones Newswires

09-05-22 0032ET