KUALA LUMPUR, July 14 (Bernama) -- Oil and gas stocks should see an upward trend going forward with more jobs expected for oil and gas providers, according to ECM Libra Investment Research.

"The sector is not without its shortcomings but on the flipside, valuations continue to be reasonable and we believe the key driver will be the impending news flow," it said.

"One would have thought that crude oil prices have been above the US$70 level for long enough to ignite a multitude of projects the world over but the recovery in capital expenditure spend hence job flow have been slow coming," ECM Libra said.

"Nevertheless, we believe that upstream spending will be back in tow, latest 2011, and continue to trickle in for the rest of this year," it said in a research note Wednesday.

At home, ECM Libra said there are some RM4 billion of jobs awarded to local players year-to-date.

Jobs have been predominantly for maintenance of existing developments and enhanced oil recovery projects but major big ticket fabrication works continued to be at bay, it said.

News flow of late has begun to hint at spearheading new developments in and outside Malaysia. Petronas is now armed with new management and has already note the importance of spending at home lest Malaysia becomes a net importer of oil.

In Malaysia itself, exploration and production activities were and are ongoing and there have been four new discoveries and Petronas gave out four production-sharing contracts last year.