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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery lost $1.07 to $49.84 on the New York Merc, while Brent for February lost 90 cents to $53.04 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $15.45 to WTI ($34.39), unchanged. Natural gas for January lost seven cents to $3.56. The TSX energy index lost 1.59 points to close at 220.42.

Don Gray's Petrus Resources Ltd. (PRQ) added 26 cents to $2.94 on 138,300 shares, approaching the $3 mark for the first time since February. That was the month it went public through the reverse takeover of an inactive fertilizer company. It was producing about 9,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day at the time, largely from the Alberta Cardium, and was optimistic that it could increase production through development and (especially) acquisitions. It completed a $30-million financing in January that valued its shares at $7.40. When the stock started trading on Feb. 8, however, it got as high as $4.99 and then started to plunge. No acquisitions materialized over the following months, and production declined to 8,400 barrels a day in the second quarter and then 7,100 barrels a day in the third quarter. The third quarter's production, to be fair, was affected by the sale of a 1,000-barrel-a-day non-core asset for $29.2-million, which Petrus used to reduce debt. Investors still seemed unnerved. Four weeks ago, the stock reached a low of just $1.71.

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