For Immediate Release

Chicago, IL – November 6, 2009 – Zacks.com announces the latest Industry Outlook. Today, Zacks Equity Research discusses the Oil & Gas sector, including CNOOC Ltd. (CEO), China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec (SNP), Cameron International (CAM), Nabors (NBR) and Patterson-UTI (PTEN).

A synopsis of today’s Industry Outlook is presented below. The full article can be read at http://www.zacks.com/stock/news/26953/Oil+%26amp%3B+Gas+Industry.

The strengthening oil price environment should benefit producers, particularly those international players having attractive growth opportunities in their home markets. Two such standout names are China’s CNOOC Ltd. (CEO) and China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation, or Sinopec (SNP), both of which remain well-placed to benefit from the country’s growing appetite for energy.

CNOOC enjoys a monopoly on exploration activities in China’s very prospective offshore region in addition to having a growing presence

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OUTLOOK The improving economic scene, both here in the U.S. as well as worldwide, is the main driver of the current oil rally that has seen the commodity settling around the $80 per barrel level. But high levels of product inventories (particularly gasoline), along with still higher supplies, will limit any sustained crude gains, in our view. But way too many factors weigh on oil prices, from OPEC decisions and geostrategic tensions to the value of the U.S. dollar and seasonal variables, to definitively size up each one of them for their respective impact on prices.  In its latest release, the Energy Information Administration (EIA) reported a less-than-anticipated increase in crude stockpiles, which rose by 800,000 barrels for the week ending October 23. However, current crude oil stocks, at 339.9 million barrels, still remain 9% above the year-earlier level as well as above the upper limit ...

China’s state-controlled petroleum refiner China Petroleum and Chemical Corp. – also known as Sinopec (SNP) – recently announced that it has finished construction of a pipeline in North China.

The crude oil pipeline connects the Hejian oil flow station in northern China's Hebei Province to the Shijiazhuang refinery in the province's capital city. It runs through a total length of 147.5 kilometers and will have a peak annual transportation capacity of 8 million tons.

The completion of the pipeline will not only ensure crude oil supply to Sinopec’s Shijiazhuang refinery but also improve the company's resource distribution in the North China area.

We view this operational achievement as a positive for Sinopec as this will help the company’s efforts in meeting the expanding demand from refineries in northern China.

However, rising costs and special levies on domestic crude oil sales – as well as downstream-centric assets – continue

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Avalon Oil & Gas Inc. is a domestic oil and natural gas producer with leases currently in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas. The company’s strategy is to use efficient reservoir maintenance and innovative oil recovery technologies on previously abandoned wells in order to produce much-needed hydrocarbon energy.

Avalon believes that global conditions in the energy market present the company with an attractive investment opportunity for proven technologies which will expand oil production efficiency in already-established oil fields. There is definitely oil to be recovered – according to the Department of Energy there is the potential to recover over 43 billion barrels of additional oil from stranded oil reserves and mature oil wells in the United States.

Finding additional oil will be important in the upcoming years. Why? The same old story – supply and demand. The supply of oil is steadily declining while

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Avalon Oil & Gas Inc. is an independent domestic oil and natural gas producer. The company has acquired a portfolio of leases in Texas, Oklahoma, Louisiana and Arkansas. Avalon’s strategy is to use efficient reservoir maintenance and innovative technology to generate stable cash flows for the company.

Avalon’s technology subsidiary acquires and develops oil production enhancing technologies from early stage licensing partners such as UTEK Inc. UTEK is a technology-transfer company that enables firms to rapidly acquire innovative technologies from universities and research laboratories worldwide.

To date, Avalon has acquired the license for two technologies. The first technology, licensed from the University of Wyoming, provides Avalon with exclusive rights to paraffin wax removal technology for improving oil production efficiency. The technology utilizes ultrasonic waves to mitigate deposits of paraffin wax from crude oil. This technology helps prevent precipitate from forming on production

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Sinopec–BASF JV Expansion Approved Earlier today, China ’s state-controlled petroleum refiner China Petroleum and Chemical Corporation – also known as Sinopec (SNP) – announced that the Chinese Government has approved the feasibility study report on the expansion of its joint venture with German chemical giant BASF AG. The companies will increase investment in their joint chemical site in China’s Nanjing city by 56% to $1.4 billion. The spending, which was earlier pegged at $900 million, was boosted because of higher costs, appreciating currency and adjustments to the capacity of the project. The project will use sophisticated technology to produce downstream specialty chemicals serving the construction, electronics, pharmaceutical, automotive and chemical engineering sectors. In particular, it will expand an existing steam cracker's annual capacity by 23% to 740,000 metric tons. Additionally, the joint venture will build ten new petrochemical plants and expand three existing ones. ...

Avalon Oil & Gas Inc. is an independent domestic oil and natural gas producer. The company’s strategy is to use efficient reservoir maintenance and innovative technology to generate stable cash flows and production from a portfolio of oil and gas leases. Avalon currently has leases in Texas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Arkansas.

Avalon Oil & Gas is led by a strong leadership team which consists of two officers and two directors.

Kent Rodriguez, CEO – Mr. Rodriguez joined the company as president and CEO in January 1997. Since 1995, he has been the managing partner of Weyer Capital Partners, a Minneapolis-based venture capital company. From 1985 to 1995, Mr. Rodriguez was employed in various capacities by the First National Bank of Elmore, Minnesota.

Jill Allison, Vice-President – Ms. Allison brings over 20 years of diversified management experience in business development and technology commercialization. She

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