KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 17): Energy stocks on Bursa Malaysia rose this morning following the attack on the world’s biggest processing petroleum facility in Saudi Arabia over the weekend.

Brent crude was down 77 cents, or 1.1%, at US$68.25 a barrel by 0051 GMT, while West Texas Intermediate was down 82 cents, or 1.3%, at US$62.08 a barrel, according to Reuters.

Crude prices surged by nearly 20% on Monday as they responded to Saturday's attack, the biggest jump in almost 30 years, before closing around 15% higher, it said.

Among the advancing energy stocks were Alam Maritim Resources Bhd, Bumi Armada Bhd, Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd, Carimin Petroleum Bhd, Coastal Contracts Bhd, Dayang Enterprise Holdings Bhd, Hengyuan Refining Co Bhd, Deleum Bhd, Dialog Group Bhd, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd, Icon Offshore Bhd and KNM Group Bhd.

PublicInvest Research has maintained its “Overweight” rating on the oil and gas sector and said that besides exacerbating the impact of the lower supply, the cold war between the US and Iran has also amplified the threat of military action.

“Therefore, we believe bullish sentiment in the market is likely to persist in the near term, providing trading opportunities especially to the pure oil and gas player like Hibiscus,” it said.