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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery added 17 cents to $57.68 on the New York Merc, while Brent for July added 52 cents to $62.58 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $8.10 to WTI ($49.58), up from a discount of $9. Natural gas for June lost 10.9 cents to $2.70. The TSX energy index lost a fraction to close at 218.81.

Trent Yanko's Legacy Oil + Gas Inc. (LEG), down four cents to $2.63 on 23.8 million shares, continued to retreat in the wake of its takeover offer yesterday from Crescent Point Energy Corp. (CPG), down 11 cents to $28.08 on 4.48 million shares. Based on Crescent Point's closing price today, the offer of 0.095 of a Crescent Point share for each Legacy share values Legacy at $2.66. That compares with its 52-week high of $10.03 and is considerably less than what president and CEO Yanko got the last time he sold a company to Crescent Point. His Mission Oil & Gas, which was spun out from a larger company in early 2005, began with production of 500 barrels a day and increased that to 5,500 barrels a day within 20 months, at which point Crescent Point came knocking. Most of that production came from the Saskatchewan Bakken. Mission was one of the first companies in this play, and its takeover established Crescent Point as the play's dominant producer. For the privilege, in September, 2006, Crescent Point offered Mission $16 a share, compared with its January, 2005, opening price of $6.80. Mr. Yanko was named Saskatchewan's "oil man of the year" in 2007. Although Legacy's takeover is not at all the victory for shareholders that Mission's was, if one looks solely at operations, Legacy has repeated some of Mission's exploration successes, most notably in the Saskatchewan Midale. Its production there has gone to 7,500 barrels of oil equivalent a day (out of total current production of 22,000 barrels a day) from 300 barrels a day just four years ago. The Midale is the only play that Crescent Point mentions by name when talking about how delighted it is to buy Legacy. It is no doubt delighted with the bargain price it is getting as a result of Legacy's heavy net debt of $967-million.

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