Oil & Gas stocks surge in volatile session; IGL soars 7%, Gail India 4.5%

Oil and gas stocks were buzzing in trade, with the Nifty Oil and Gas index jumping 2.51 per cent to hit an intraday high of 11,669.50 levels. By comparison, Nifty50 rose 0.29 per cent.

With the exception of Adani Total Gas and Aegis Logistics, all stocks within the Nifty Oil & Gas index witnessed gains. Leading the surge was IGL, climbing by 7.29 per cent, trailed by GAIL with a rise of 4.66 per cent, followed closely by MGL up by 4.42 per cent, and Petronet LNG increasing by 4.15 per cent.

Other  gainers included BPCL at 3.30 per cent, Guj Gas at 3.26 per cent, HPCL at 3.10 per cent, IOC at 2.7 per cent, Reliance at 2.24 per cent, ONGC at 2.43 per cent, GSPL at 1.25 per cent, Castrol India at 1.52 per cent, and Oil India Limited at 1.78 per cent.

Analysts attributed this uptick to several factors, including the decline in oil prices, which fell to near their lowest level since mid-March. Other contributing factors included a slightly bearish US stockpile report and escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Brent crude dipped below $83 a barrel, reaching its lowest point since March 13, while West Texas Intermediate approached $78, according to a report from Kolkata-based brokerage firm SMIFS Limited.

Kaynat Chainwala, senior manager of commodity research at Kotak Securities said, “WTI Crude oil futures declined on Tuesday after Russian Deputy Prime Minister Alexander Novak reiterated that OPEC+ has the option of increasing oil production. Oil traders largely looked past escalating tensions in the Middle East. API inventory data released earlier today showed that stocks of crude oil in the US went up by 0.509 million barrels during the previous week, the smallest weekly gain in crude oil inventories since early March and investors keenly await EIA data later today.

At 3:14 PM, Nifty Oil & Gas was up 1.65 per cent at 11,570.50 levels.