KUALA LUMPUR: Public Investment Bank Bhd (PIVB) has reinforced its "overweight" view on the oil and gas (O&G) sector after the overnight benchmark Brent crude oil price closed at US$58.44 per barrel, hitting its highest levels since July 2015. Moving forward, PIVB estimated the average Brent crude oil price to trade at US$50 per barrel for 2017 and US$55 per barrel for 2018. "Crude oil prices are expected to stabilise. Our estimates are premised on the average year-to-date Brent crude oil prices and its futures to quote at US$52.40 per barrel and US$49 per barrel respectively, for the second half of 2017 to balance the year at our estimated US$50 per barrel for this year. "We opine the industry is more focused on robust activity at stable oil prices, rather than very high crude oil prices at this juncture which may not be sustainable," it said.

Source: New Strait Times September 27, 2017 03:45 UTC