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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery added 77 cents to $63.82 on the New York Merc, while Brent for January added 65 cents to $66.84 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $17.30 to WTI ($46.52), down from a discount of $16.70. Natural gas for January added 5.7 cents to $3.65. The TSX energy index added 2.31 points to close at 207.20.

Another energy company has cut its dividend amid falling oil prices. Following in the footsteps of Canadian Oil Sands Ltd. (COS: $10.10), which slashed its dividend last week, and Trilogy Energy Corp. (TET: $8.27), which eliminated its dividend yesterday, Baytex Energy Corp. (BTE) has chopped its monthly dividend to 10 cents from 24 cents. The stock added 44 cents to $16.90 on 9.03 million shares. Baytex is a different story from Canadian Oil Sands and Trilogy, which both fell after their announcements. At this point, dividend cuts are no surprise and many income investors have already fled. As well, although all three companies announced their 2015 capital budget at the same time as the cut, the market seems to like Baytex's the most. Baytex says its $575-million to $650-million budget can deliver a 4-per-cent production increase over 2014 (adjusted for asset transactions). Trilogy, by contrast, expects no production increase at all, based on a budget of $250-million. Although Canadian Oil Sands forecasts a 6-per-cent production increase based on a $564-million budget, it is not in the best position to make that happen. Its sole asset is its 36.7-per-cent interest in the Syncrude project, which it does not operate and which has a history of unplanned outages. Baytex has more control in its three core areas, which are the Peace River area of Alberta, the Lloydminster area of Alberta-Saskatchewan and the Eagle Ford in Texas.

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