ShareWatch

AS SASOL enters the second half of its 2017 financial year, the listed chemicals and energy group will be hoping that Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and non-Opec members will stick to their December 2016 agreement to reduce output in order to stimulate oil price increases. The oil price has a bearing on Sasol’s profits. According to the group, for every US$1 per barrel increase in the annual average crude oil price, operating profit was expected to increase by about R820 million in 2017 financial year. In the 2016 financial year, the crude oil price averaged $43,37 per barrel. Brent crude oil was $56.37 a barrel at 5pm yesterday. Sasol’s share price has tracked the global oil price movements. It fell from a five-year high of R652.99 in June 2014 to ... at the close of business yesterday. The fall in the share price coincided with the plummeting oil prices. The crude oil price was last seen at more than $110 a barrel in June 2014. Since then the oil price has been relatively low.