KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 26): Hengyuan Refining Co Bhd's share price continues to march ahead, hitting fresh record high at RM15.14 as at 3.30pm today. The stock has gained over 500% since the start of the year despite the recovery in crude oil prices.

Across the board, the oil and gas stocks have also climbed higher amidst the firmer crude oil prices.

Benchmark Brent crude climbed to US$65.26 per barrel today.

At 12.30pm, Hengyuan surged 62 sen or 4.29% with 2.55 million shares done for a market capitalisation of RM4.38 billion.

At 12.30pm, Sapura Energy Bhd rose 1.5 sen or 2.11% to 72.5 sen with 32.85 million shares done for a market capitalisation of RM4.28 billion.

Destini Bhd climbed 3.5 sen or 7.14% to 52.5 sen with 12.73 million shares traded for a market capitalisation of RM600.7 million.

UMW Oil & Gas Corp Bhd grew one sen or 3.45% to 30 sen with 11.54 million shares transacted, valuing it at RM2.46 billion.

Bumi Armada Bhd went up one sen or 1.35% to 75 sen with 3.21 million shares changing hands for a market capitalisation of RM4.4 billion.

Meanwhile, Petronas Gas Bhd slid 10 sen or 0.58% to RM17 with 54,300 shares done for a market capitalisation of RM33.63 billion.

At the same time, Gas Malaysia Bhd dipped three sen or 1.06% to RM2.81 on thin trade for a market capitalisation of RM3.6 billion.

At press time, West Texas Intermediate futures rose six US cent or 0.1% to US$58.53 per barrel as Brent crude grew one US cent or 0.01% to US$65.26 per barrel.

The ringgit traded at 4.0798 against the US dollar.

SJ Securities Sdn Bhd senior remisier Goh Kay Chong said the upward trend for the counters were due to crude oil prices.

Asked if this would be the trend till end of the year, Goh told theedgemarkets.com the market would need to monitor Brent crude price and the world market on oil supply and demand, especially the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC)'s decision to cut production.

"If we look till year end, we would need to monitor Brent price [which] will fluctuate. Players will be monitoring as well," he added.

According to Reuters, oil prices were stable today, with Brent crude lingering near 2015 highs on the back of an outlook for healthy demand amid ongoing production cuts led by OPEC and Russia.

It added that Brent crude futures, the international benchmark for oil prices, were at US$65.25 a barrel, unchanged from their last close, but near the US$65.83 per barrel briefly on Dec 12 — the highest since June 2015.

"Brent has risen by 47% since mid-2017. OPEC, the Middle East-dominated producer club, and Russia — the world's single biggest oil producer — have been withholding output in order to tighten the market and prop up prices," Reuters wrote.

It reported that the agreement to cut started last January and is set to cover all of 2018.