Oil stocks slip as crude price declines on oversupply

UOB Kay Hian Research analyst Kong Ho Meng said while there have not been any large tenders awarded by Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), it expected contracts to be rolled out from next year. In Malaysia, he said, about 11% or about 35 of the over 300 platforms have been operating for over 40 years, and more than 200 wells have already been identified to be plugged and abandoned.

KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of Petronas Gas, Petronas Chemical and Dialog fell on Wednesday following the slump in crude oil prices and also the weaker broader market.

At 10.34am, the KLCI was down 4.27 points or 0.25% to 1,683.30. Turnover was 718.56 million shares valued at RM394.41mil. There were 202 gainers, 355 losers and 238 counters unchanged.

Petronas Gas fell 14 sen to RM18.60 and Petronas Chemical 13 sen to RM9.41. Diaog lost 13 sen to RM3.14.

However, retailer Petronas Dagangan rose 28 sen to RM26.88.

Oil markets struggled to find their footing after plunging by 7% the previous session, with surging supply and the spectre of faltering demand keeping investors on edge, Reuters reported.

US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures dropped 15 cents to US$55.54 per barrel while international benchmark Brent crude oil futures were up four cents at US$65.51 per barrel.

Markets fell by more than 7% the previous day. Crude oil has lost over a quarter of its value since early October in what has become one of the biggest declines since prices collapsed in 2014.