Malaysian shares closed slightly higher on Monday, with the FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI up 0.7% at 1,698.01 points, against the downbeat performance of regional peers amid escalating oil prices.

In local news, Malaysia's Petronas Carigali and Thailand's PTT (SET:PTT) have obtained government approvals for a new production-sharing contract which covers a major gas block in the Malaysia-Thailand Joint Development Area. The contract for Block A-18-01 was signed in Bangkok by the state energy company's stepdown subsidiary, PC JDA, which is a direct subsidiary of Petronas Carigali.

In corporate news, shares of Kelington (KLSE:KGB) gained about 2% on close after its subsidiary, Kelington Engineering (S), accepted a letter of award worth around $452 million for turnkey total facility tool-hookup services at a semiconductor plant in India.

Shares of Kluang Rubber Co. (Malaya) (KLSE:KLUANG) also gained about 2% on Monday's close after it recorded a fresh fruit bunch crop production of 975.88 metric tonnes in August.

Sungei Bagan Rubber Company (Malaya)'s (KLSE:SBAGAN) fresh fruit bunch production totaled 2,388.1 metric tonnes in August.