KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 18): Oil and gas (O&G) players were among the topmost active counters on Bursa Malaysia this morning after oil prices breached US$60 (RM242.01) a barrel.

As of 10.07am, shares in Velesto Energy Bhd were the most actively traded with 161.70 million shares done. The counter was up 6.06% or a sen higher at 17.5 sen, valuing it at RM1.44 billion.

Offshore support vessel company Alam Maritim Resources Bhd was in the second place, registering a trading volume of 148.44 million shares. Alam Maritim was trading 10.53% or a sen higher at 10.5 sen, translating into a market value of RM143.73 million.

Meanwhile, floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) player Bumi Armada Bhd was fifth on the list of the top active stocks this morning, with a trading volume of 76.31 million shares. At the time of writing, the stock was up 5.26% or two sen higher at 40 sen, valuing it at RM2.35 billion.

In the sixth place was KNM Group Bhd, which saw 74.22 million shares done. It was up by 7.32% or 1.5 sen higher at 22 sen, yielding a market value of RM724.35 million.

Sapura Energy Bhd rounded off the top 10 most active stocks on the local bourse today with a trading volume of 63.48 million shares. It was up by half a sen or 3.33% at 15.5 sen, valuing it at RM2.48 billion.

The Energy Index of Bursa, which counts O&G players as its constituents, was the best performing index at the time of writing today. It was up 3.86% or 36.34 points higher at 978.19 points.

In contrast, the benchmark FBM KLCI was 0.08% or 1.34 points higher at 1,596.63 points.

Reuters reported today that oil prices continued to post gains as US production was hampered by a cold snap that hit oil-producing regions of the US.

“Brent crude climbed 93 cents, or 1.5%, to US$65.27 a barrel by 0219 GMT, touching its highest since Jan 20, 2020. US West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures gained 76 cents, or 1.2%, to US$61.90 a barrel, registering its highest since Jan 8, 2020.

Both benchmarks rose about US$1 yesterday and had gained more than 6% since their close last Thursday. The unusual freeze hitting much of the US could hamper crude output for days or even weeks, analysts said.

"Roughly one million barrels per day (bpd) of crude production have been shut, according to Wood Mackenzie analysts, and it could be weeks before production is fully restored,” it reported.