Newton's Harries: Oil and gas firms are the 'new miners' after price slump

James Harries is increasing exposure to oil and gas stocks in his Newton Global Higher Income fund, having compared the investment opportunities in the sector to those in the mining industry a few years ago.

The manager of the £4bn fund said around the globe the sector - which includes UK titans BP and Royal Dutch Shell - was getting its act together on costs, and moving away from the capital-intensive programs which previously dominated their agendas. "The fact that the capex profile of many large integrated oil companies is beginning to decline and they are beginning to deploy their capital more rationally makes for quite an interesting investment case, akin to where mining companies were a few years ago," he said. The sector looks particularly attractive, Harries (pictured) said, since...