Karoon, Woodside lead oil rally as crude hits 4-month high
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The news: Oil stocks led gains in early trading on the ASX after crude reached a four-month high, fuelled by fresh US sanctions against Russia's energy industry.
The numbers: Oil and gas majors Karoon Energy (3.4%), Woodside Energy (2%), Beach Energy (1.6%) and Santos (1.3%) were all among the top 10 performers across the ASX 200 at 10:45am AEDT. Ampol (0.6%) was also trading higher.
Energy added 1.5%, making it the only sector in green as the ASX 200 index shed 0.9%.
Global benchmark Brent crude climbed 1.65% to USD81.08 ($131.70) a barrel, after surging nearly 4% in the previous session. West Texas Intermediate advanced 1.91% to USD78.03.
The context: On Friday, the US imposed new sanctions on Russia's oil industry, targeting producers, exporters, insurance companies and over 150 tankers, Bloomberg reported.
The move by outgoing US President Joe Biden helped extend crude's recent rally, with gains boosted by colder weather, declining US stockpiles and expectations of tighter US sanctions on Iranian oil by President-elect Donald Trump.
The source: Bloomberg
