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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery lost 29 cents to $32.78 on the New York Merc, while Brent for April lost 19 cents to $35.10 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $12.55 to WTI ($20.23), unchanged. Natural gas for April added eight cents to $1.791. The TSX energy index added 1.38 points to close at 150.64.

Li Ka-Shing's Husky Energy Inc. (HSE) added 60 cents to $14.05 on 3.3 million shares, after releasing better-than expected fourth quarter results. Its net loss for the quarter was five cents a share (excluding unusual items), better than analysts' predictions of 10 cents a share, and a sharp improvement from a loss of 65 cents a share a year earlier (though the year-earlier results included a roughly 63-cent-a-share impairment charge). Production in the quarter came to 357,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, a bit better than analysts' predictions of about 353,700 barrels a day. Husky also provided more details about its 2016 guidance. This was released a month ago, when the company reduced its budget to a range of $2.1-billion to $2.3-billion (from a range of $2.9-billion to $3.1-billion) and lowered its production guidance to a range of 315,000 to 345,000 barrels a day (down from the previous target of 330,000 to 360,000 barrels a day). Husky also suspended its quarterly dividend that day. Today, Husky noted that the budget is intended to balance capital spending with cash flow at a WTI oil price of $30 (U.S.). This is one of the most conservative price assumptions being used by a major producer. Husky will not make money at that price, but says it is working hard to get its break-even price to below $40 (U.S.) WTI by the end of the year, "one of the lowest break-evens in our industry," said chief executive officer Asim Ghosh during a conference call this morning. He attributed this to Husky's focus on low-sustaining-capital projects, which he said contributed just 8 per cent of production in 2010 but will contribute 40 per cent in the second half of this year. That proportion will change if Husky succeeds in selling non-core assets. The company has about 60,000 barrels a day in Western Canadian production up for sale (among other assets), and is reportedly accepting bids until mid-March. Mr. Ghosh would only say that Husky is "making progress" on sales. Any proceeds will go toward reducing total debt, which was $6.75-billion as of Dec. 30.

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