[ET Net News Agency, 17 March 2021] Morgan Stanley lifted its target price for
PetroChina (00857) to HK$4.13 from HK$2.78 and maintained its "overweight" rating.
The research house believes crude oil prices are likely to reach US$70/bbl in 2021 and
remain at US$55-60/bbl in 2022. The current oil price level would position PetroChina and
CNOOC (00883) more favorably than Sinopec (00386).
Morgan said PetroChina is most sensitive to oil price change among the three oil majors
because of significant exposure to marginal oilfields. After the pipeline restructuring,
Morgan believes gas price liberalization is now on track.
In the long run, if gas prices are ultimately liberalized in China, the supply-demand
conditions would materially boost the company's share price and cover its current large
import costs. Morgan raised its EPS forecasts by 11-119% for 2020-22. (KL)