Malaysia's state oil firm Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) posted a 16 percent rise in third-quarter net profit, helped by higher demand for crude oil and a return to production inSouth Sudan.
Net profit in the July to September period rose to 14.47 billion Malaysian ringgit ($4.52 billion) from 12.47 billion ringgit a year ago, Petronas data showed.
Higher production levels and foreign exchange gains are expected to boost results for the full year, Petronas President and Chief Executive Shamsul Azhar Abbas said in an earnings briefing on Tuesday.
"For this year we did not see any production coming out of South Sudan but we were given a surprise."
Petronas' total domestic and international production in the quarter reached 2.06 million barrels of oil equivalent, up from 1.90 million a year ago as the Fortune 500 company resumed operations in South Sudan and ramped up output in Malaysia, Iraq and Canada.
In the first nine months of the year production was up 6 percent from the corresponding year-ago period.
Regarding Petronas' $850 million deal to buy a stake in two Brazilian offshore oil blocks controlled by the ailing OGX Petróleo e Gas Participações SA, Shamsul said the Malaysian firm was waiting for a court decision on OGX's bankruptcy filing before deciding on the plan.
"Right now it is a very sensitive issue, since they've already filed. We will wait for the decision," Shamsul said.
"We are not in a position to say more than that."
OGX, owned by former billionaire Eike Batista, said last month that it expects to end up in arbitration over the deal with Petronas.
