Oil and gas sector not seen to turn around soon

Brent crude fell 60 cents to settle at $51.81 a barrel, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude slipped 61 cents to settle at $50.18 a barrel.

PETALING JAYA: While the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) has indicated that it could cut its oil output by 240,000 to 700,000 barrels of oil per day in its recent meeting in Algeria, most analysts are not assured that the sector would turn around any time soon.

The informal Algiers meet among big oil-producing nations on Sept 29 delivered a positive surprise to the market, with some agreement being achieved on reducing oil production to a range of 32.5 to 33 million barrels of oil per day from 33.4 million.