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UK stocks held onto gains on Tuesday as oil plays continued to benefit from attacks on Saudi crude supplies, though fertilizer developer Sirius minerals plunged due to financing difficulties.
At 12:00, the benchmark FTSE 100 index was up 13.39 points, or 0.18%, at 7.334.8
Shell and BP rose 1.4% and 0.9%, respectively.
Sirius Minerals plummeted 53% to 4.69p after it admitted that it wasn't likely to get a delayed $500m bond offering away due to market uncertainty, forcing it to slow the development of its flagship fertilizer project in Yorkshire.
Online grocery retailer Ocado pared early losses to rise 1% to 1,363.5p on reporting 11.4% growth in third-quarter retail sales, putting it on track to meet its full-year guidance of 10-15% growth.
Struggling fashion chain French Connection slumped 10% to 34.15p as it booked another loss and said it had extended a strategic review process again after failing to attract a takeover bid.
Recruitment and training group Staffline tumbled 23% to 119.17p after it swung to a first-half loss, pinned on the delayed publication of its 2018 results and a challenging trading environment.
Employee services company Personal Group fell 4% to 365p, even as it posted a 5.6% rise in first-half profit, though it also said new sales had been slower than expected.
Specialist defence contractor TP gained 1% to 6.77p, having won an order to provide oxygen oxygen generating devices to the UK defence ministry.
Remote meetings company LoopUp dropped 29% to 72.5p, despite reported a rise in first-half adjusted profit, as it also downgraded its annual guidance citing a challenging economic environment.