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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery lost 35 cents to $44.74 on the New York Merc, while Brent for November lost 68 cents to $47.69 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $14.05 to WTI ($30.69), unchanged. Natural gas for November lost 9.1 cents to $2.433. The TSX energy index lost 1.41 points to close at 165.03.

Rick George's Penn West Petroleum Ltd. (PWT) added seven cents to 67 cents on 7.31 million shares, after agreeing to sell its 9.5-per-cent interest in the Weyburn project in southeast Saskatchewan for $205-million. Weyburn is a roughly 25,000-barrel-a-day EOR (enhanced oil recovery) project that has been producing for six decades and is expected to produce for decades to come. It is operated by Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE: $19.67) on behalf of several owners. One of those owners used to be Pengrowth Energy Corp. (PGF: $1.08), which sold its 10-per-cent interest for $316-million in early 2013. Given the crash in oil prices since then, Penn West will have to make do with just $205-million for its 9.5-per-cent interest, but it could not afford to wait for a price rebound. It needs the money to pay down its debt. This year alone, it has sold $810-million worth of assets, and it has sold over $1.9-billion since mid-2013. Its debt level remains high at about $2.2-billion (as of June 30). With the balance sheet under never-ending pressure and production going steadily downward as a result of the asset sales (which have removed over 36,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day since mid-2013), Penn West's 67-cent stock has fallen from over $10 in late 2013, not to mention its 2006 high of $47. It took a particularly hard blow earlier this month, falling to 84 cents from $1.03 on Sept. 1, when it suspended its dividend, which years ago was as high as 34 cents a month. Penn West will keep trying to turn things around through asset sales. Its core Viking, Cardium and Slave Point plays in Alberta and Saskatchewan are producing 54,000 barrels a day, which (given Penn West's 2015 guidance of 84,000 to 88,000 barrels a day) leaves it with plenty more to sell, if it can find buyers.

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