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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery added $1.47 to $60.40 on the New York Merc, closing above $60 for the first time all year, while Brent for June added $1.07 to $67.52 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $8.35 to WTI ($52.05), up from a discount of $8.75. Natural gas for June lost 4.1 cents to $2.78. The TSX energy index lost 3.12 points to close at 233.44.

Seven Generations Energy Ltd. (VII), an Alberta Montney producer, lost 45 cents to $18.42 on 5.4 million shares, on top of the $1.26 it lost yesterday. Investors have been bracing themselves for an important milestone today: the end of the 180-day lock-up period that began after Seven Generations closed its $18-a-share IPO on Nov. 5. About 193.8 of the company's 245.1 million shares, or 79 per cent, were subject to the lock-up but are now free trading. Potential profit-taking by original shareholders, some of whom would have participated in financings for as little as $3 a share when the company was private, could put pressure on the stock. Scotia analyst William Lee estimated in February that about 49 million shares could be issued through secondary offerings. He did not specify who might sell, but the likeliest candidates seem to be ARC Energy Fund 5 and KERN Energy Partners, which hold 28.6 million and 20.1 million shares, respectively. ARC and KERN had originally planned to do secondary offerings at the same time as the IPO (according to Seven Generations' SEDAR filings), but changed their minds as the energy market began to weaken. That was back in October. Today's market conditions are still grim, but a recent surge in equity deals showed that investor demand for energy shares is strong. (Since the start of the year, 15 oil and gas producers have raised or announced plans to raise nearly $5.4-billion through bought deals and private placements.) Scotia's Mr. Lee repeated his prediction today that up to 50 million newly free-trading shares of Seven Generations will head into the market. RBC analyst Michael Harvey put the figure lower, at 25 million to 30 million.

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