This item is part of Stockwatch's value added news feed and is only available to Stockwatch subscribers.

Here is a sample of this item:

by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery added eight cents to $40.75 on the New York Merc, while Brent for January added 57 cents to $44.14 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $15.10 to WTI ($25.65), down from a discount of $14.70. Natural gas for December lost 2.4 cents to $2.347. The TSX energy index lost a fraction to close at 180.97.

Grant Fagerheim's Whitecap Resources Inc. (WCP) added 48 cents to $11.87 on 8.24 million shares. President and chief executive officer Fagerheim has been hard at work on the promotional front, speaking to BNN yesterday morning ahead of a presentation yesterday afternoon at FirstEnergy's Energy Growth Conference in Toronto. Mr. Fagerheim spent his time on BNN defending the safety of Whitecap's 6.25-cent monthly dividend, which yields 6.3 per cent. Unlike many of its peers, Whitecap has kept up this dividend all through the oil price crash (although it did cancel a previously planned hike to seven cents earlier this year). Mr. Fagerheim said Whitecap simply needs to keep its total payout ratio under 100 per cent and its debt-to-cash-flow ratio below 2.0 times. "As long as we can remain there, we will continue to pay the dividend on a consistent basis going forward," he vowed. Whitecap is closer to the edge than Mr. Fagerheim's show of confidence might suggest. According to its 2016 budget, released last week, the total payout ratio is forecast at 99 per cent and the debt-to-cash-flow ratio is forecast at 1.9 times -- and this assumes WTI prices of $50 (U.S.), whereas the current contracts for 2016 are slightly below that. Mr. Fagerheim did not go over the specifics of the budget in his BNN interview, but did acknowledge that current WTI prices for 2016 are below Whitecap's forecast. He said Whitecap will review its budget at the end of the first quarter.

The remainder is available to Stockwatch subscribers.
Sign-up for a FREE 30-day Stockwatch subscription and SEE NO ADS