KUALA LUMPUR (April 6): Oil and gas (O&G) counters on Bursa Malaysia saw gains this morning, despite the drop in oil prices.

At 11:16am, Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd was the most active counter on Bursa Malaysia.

Hibiscus shares were up 7.78% or 3.5 sen at 48.5 sen, on a trading volume of 175.08 million shares.

Meanwhile, Sapura Energy Bhd was trading 10.53% or one sen higher at 10.5 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM1.6 billion. The counter saw 142.16 million shares traded.

Velesto Energy Bhd rose 6.25% or a sen to 17 sen, while Bumi Armada Bhd climbed 6.06% or one sen to eight sen.

Bursa Malaysia’s Energy Index, which counts O&G firms as constituents, rose by 3.91% or 27.2 points to 723.3 points.

At the time of writing, WTI crude prices were down 3.95% or US$1.12 at US$27.22 a barrel. Brent crude was down 2.49% or US$0.85 at US$33.26 a barrel.

According to Reuters, crude oil prices declined as discussions between Saudi Arabia and Russia over a cut in supply have been postponed.

Investors are now trying to find pockets of positive developments and are seeking trading opportunities, Rakuten Trade Research vice president Vincent Lau told theedgemarkets.com.

“As such, any positive developments will make a difference to investor sentiment,” he added.