KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 26): Bursa Malaysia oil and gas counters like Petronas Dagangan Bhd, Petron Malaysia Refining & Marketing Bhd and Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd rose today as Brent crude oil prices stayed at their highest in nearly four years ahead of the US' planned sanction on Iran.
At 11:41am, Petronas Dagangan shares rose two sen to RM26.66 while Petron climbed four sen to RM8.54. At 11:55am, Hibiscus rose two sen to RM1.20.
Reuters reported today oil benchmark Brent traded little changed on Wednesday after rising to its highest in nearly four years in the previous session while US crude futures fell as US officials tried to assure that the market would be well-supplied before sanctions are re-imposed on producer Iran.
It was reported that Brent crude futures were down four cents at US$81.83 a barrel by 0342 GMT, after gaining nearly 1% the previous session. Brent rose on Tuesday to its highest since November 2014 at US$82.55 per barrel. US crude futures were down 13 cents, or 0.2%, at US$72.15 a barrel. They rose 0.3% on Tuesday to close at their highest level since July 11.
It was reported that the US will apply sanctions to halt oil exports from Iran, the third-largest producer in the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), starting on Nov. 4. The pending loss of Iranian supply has been a major factor in the recent surge in crude prices.
"Trader focus remains on the Brent contract trading at four-year highs. The impending sanction of Iranian output not only removes around one million barrels per day (bpd), but the potential supply response of a further two million bpd," Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets was quoted as saying in Sydney.