Exxon Mobil shares gain for a fifth straight session on Tuesday, oil major signs expertise-sharing deal with India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp

According to a report by Reuters, citing sources with direct knowledge of the matter, Exxon Mobil Corp (XOM) is to offer its expertise and technology to India’s Oil and Natural Gas Corp Ltd (ONGC) in order to facilitate development of its resources in offshore blocks.

Exxon Mobil shares closed higher for a fifth consecutive trading session in New York on Tuesday. The stock went up 0.35% ($0.24) to $69.42, after touching an intraday high at $69.99, or a price level not seen since October 1st ($70.91).

Shares of Exxon Mobil Corporation have risen 1.80% so far in 2019 compared with a 19.50% gain for the benchmark index, S&P 500 (SPX).

In 2018, Exxon Mobil Corp’s stock went down 18.47%, thus, it again underperformed the S&P 500, which registered a 6.24% loss.

The two companies on Monday signed a memorandum of understanding, which, at a later stage, will be signed as a definitive deal once Exxon Mobil examines ONGC’s blocks.

“Witnessed the exchange of a MoU between ONGC and ExxonMobil to identify areas for exploration in deep water in east and west coast of India,” the country’s Oil Minister Dharmendra Pradhan said in a post on Twitter, cited by Reuters.

The two companies are also expected to jointly identify areas to submit bids for more exploration assets in the South Asian country, Reuters reported.

At present, ONGC is developing deep water oil and gas blocks in India’s east coast, which will go on-stream by the year 2020.

Analyst stock price forecast and recommendation

According to CNN Money, the 20 analysts, offering 12-month forecasts regarding Exxon Mobil’s stock price, have a median target of $77.00, with a high estimate of $100.00 and a low estimate of $63.00. The median estimate represents a 10.92% upside compared to the closing price of $69.42 on October 15th.

The same media also reported that at least 18 out of 25 surveyed investment analysts had rated Exxon Mobil’s stock as “Hold”, while 5 – as “Buy”. On the other hand, 1 analyst had recommended selling the stock.