UPDATE 1-RESEARCH ALERT-Jefferies raises Venoco to buy

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April 17 (Reuters) - Jefferies & Co upgraded Venoco Inc (VQ.N) to "buy" from "hold," saying it has increased confidence in the oil and gas exploration company's production growth target.

Shares of Venoco, which expects 5 percent to 10 percent production growth in 2008, have significantly underperformed the exploration & production index year to date, the brokerage said in a research note.

Meanwhile, the brokerage said potential progress on one or both of Venoco's major development projects this year could provide an additional boost.

Jefferies raised its price target on the stock to $18 from $14.

Venoco was up nearly 8 percent at $14.64 in morning trade on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Aditi Samajpati in Bangalore; Editing by Bernard Orr)