The S&P Energy Index (+1.3%) is trading to the upside this morning, and is currently outperforming the broader market (+0.04%).
Sector News: HK (+62.2%) shares are sharply higher on reports that BHP agreed to the co for as much as $15.1 bln. Should this news be confirmed marking its second acquisition of U.S. shale-gas assets this yr. PDC (+4.2%) priced a 6 mln share common stock offering at $14.50/share. GEL (-4.7%) priced a public offering of common units at $26.50/share. BP (-0.3%) announced it will implement a new set of deepwater oil and gas drilling standards for its operations in the US Gulf of Mexico.
Broker Calls: SM (+7.9%) was upgraded to Outperform from Market Perform at Wells Fargo. PCX (+4.9%) was upgraded to Market Perform at BMO Capital Markets. QEP (+3.6%) was initiated with Buy at Jefferies. RIG (+2.8%), ATW (+3.0%) and NE (+2.1%) were all upgraded to Buy from Hold at Jefferies. COP (+1.0%) was downgraded to Market Perform at Howard Weil. KOS (+0.2%) was initiated with a Market Outperform at Howard Weil. BWC (-2.7%) was downgraded to Overweight at Johnson Rice.






