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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for October delivery lost $2.22 to $44.68 on the New York Merc, while Brent for November lost $1.61 to $47.47 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $14.25 to WTI ($30.43), down from a discount of $13.60. Natural gas for October lost 4.7 cents to $2.605. The TSX energy index lost 3.89 points to close at 170.44.

Ray Chan's Baytex Energy Corp. (BTE) lost 21 cents to $5.23 on 5.39 million shares, on top of the 23 cents it lost yesterday despite the best efforts of president and chief executive officer Jim Bowzer at the Peters & Co. Energy Conference in Toronto. Mr. Bowzer has not had an easy time lately. This time last year, Baytex's stock was above $45, it was having no trouble paying a generous monthly dividend, and it had recently closed a large acquisition in the Texas Eagle Ford without worrying about the debt it took on to do so. Then the oil crash sent the stock reeling. Last month, it dropped to $5.69 from $7.10 over just a few days, after Baytex suspended its dividend and moved its budget and production guidance to the low end of the ranges. Mr. Bowzer tried to look on the bright side during his presentation yesterday morning. He said the company has successfully "recalibrated our business model to maintain cash flows consistent with outflows," so that it should not have to add much if anything to its $1.8-billion debt over the rest of the year. He also pointed out that Baytex has been doing a good job improving the operations in its core plays. In the Eagle Ford, well costs have gone down to $6-million (U.S.) from $8.2-million (U.S.) last year, while drilling times have fallen to less than 10 days from 30 days. The Eagle Ford contributes roughly half of Baytex's production of around 85,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day. The rest comes from Canada, particularly the Peace River and Lloydminster areas, where wells are also showing improvements but are still not worthwhile at today's prices. "Today we are not spending any money in Canada," said Mr. Bowzer. He added that Baytex's spending level will go down even further if oil prices keep falling, "and frankly they have been." The current budget for 2015 is $500-million. If oil prices stay at $50 (U.S.) a barrel or lower, and assuming that costs continue to come down, Mr. Bowzer figured that Baytex could reduce spending to a range of $350-million to $400-million as it moves into 2016. "That's certainly not a budget number," he quickly cautioned, adding that everything depends on oil prices. Investors seemed leery.

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