Oil sector rallies UK Opportunities

As the FTSE rallied this week, boosted by oil and mining stocks, Phil Doel, manager of the F&C UK Opportunities fund, continues to see opportunities in the sector.

A good example of this is Tullow Oil, a FTSE 100 oil and gas exploration stock that Doel has been holding for over a year now. He said: "The shares have performed admirably in the intervening period, reacting positively to the rising oil price and enjoying success with their exploration activities, particularly in Ghana and Uganda. The dip in oil prices in recent weeks has impacted on the stocks somewhat, but I have retained and indeed added to our position taking advantage of the market weakness".

Doel added: "We believe that not only are the existing discoveries worth more than the current share price but also the groups' drilling program, which is poised to take place over the coming 12 months, also looks set to add material value. We expect the group to find more hydrocarbons in both Ghana and Uganda this year, proving both to be highly commercial. The group has taken advantage of the recent high oil price to sell some non core assets and now has a very strong balance sheet which will not only fund this widespread exploration program but also to bring the potentially vast Jubilee field in Ghana into early production, perhaps as soon as 2010".