How the oil patch turned itself around and is attracting a whole new group of investors

After shunning energy, investors this year have been scooping up names in the sector along with other cyclicals. Oil and gas companies have paid down debt and cleaned up their balance sheets. Importantly, they are holding off on new drilling, even as oil and gas prices rise.

Shareholders have demanded frugality from producers for several years now, and analysts say the industry is committed to holding off on new wells until OPEC-plus has returned production to previous levels and demand is comfortably back above 100 million barrels a day. That is not expected until some time towards the middle of next year.