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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery added 37 cents to $50.79 on the New York Merc, while Brent for May added $1.02 to $56.57 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $12.05 to WTI ($38.74), unchanged. Natural gas for May lost 9.1 cents to $2.52. The TSX energy index added 3.41 points to close at 229.52.

Edmund Shimoon's Calvalley Petroleum Inc. (CVI) jumped 24 cents to 93 cents on 2.03 million shares. The company plans to liquidate itself because of the chaos in Yemen, where it owns a 50-per-cent interest in block 9. For each Calvalley share, investors will have the choice of receiving: (i) 80.7 U.S. cents; (ii) shares in a non-listed subsidiary that indirectly holds the Yemeni assets; or (iii) a combination of both. Calvalley is taking this step because of what it delicately calls the "state of flux" of Yemen's energy sector. (The country is mostly under the control of rebels, who are opposed by Saudi Arabia and its allies.) Under the "present circumstances," operations are "complicated." (Saudi bombs will have that effect.) The decision will end Calvalley's nearly 20-year career as public company in Yemen. It listed in 1996 and entered Yemen in 1997, picking up its interest in block 9, where it began production in late 2005. This helped send the stock to a high of $9 in April, 2006, from around $3.20 in December, 2005. By the end of 2006, Calvalley's production was over 3,500 barrels of oil equivalent a day. After that, however, it started to decline. Last year was particularly bad. Labour strikes, pipeline ruptures, community blockades, a lack of drilling and the shut-in of a field brought production to its knees; it averaged just 1,430 barrels a day. Calvalley began looking for assets outside Yemen months ago. With no success, and with Yemen growing increasingly inhospitable, the company has decided on liquidation. It had no debt and $74.8-million (U.S.) in working capital as of Dec. 31. A total of $60-million (U.S.) has now been allocated for distribution to shareholders.

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