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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery lost eight cents to $47.95 on the New York Merc, while Brent for January lost 13 cents to $48.92 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $15.50 to WTI ($32.45), down from a discount of $15.35. Natural gas for December added six cents to $3.01. The TSX energy index added a fraction to close at 217.20.

Baytex Energy Corp. (BTE) lost 17 cents to $5.33 on 16.1 million shares, after arranging a $65-million acquisition, financed by a $100-million bought deal. The acquisition involves heavy oil assets in the Peace River area of Alberta. They will add 415 sections of land, more than doubling Baytex's current Peace River landholdings of 338 sections, and will contribute 3,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day, which Baytex says will increase its current Peace River output by 20 per cent. This means that current output is around 15,000 barrels a day. By comparison, it was nearly 22,000 barrels a day in 2015, according to SEDAR. The drop since then reflects Baytex's decision to stop drilling in Canada in mid-2015. As a result, the Canadian operations produced just 33,600 barrels a day in the third quarter of 2016, down sharply from their early 2015 level of over 50,000 barrels a day. Baytex's total production in the third quarter of 2016 was about 67,000 barrels a day, with half of that coming from Canada and half coming from the company's other core area, the Texas Eagle Ford. This area has received virtually all of Baytex's budget lately. Yet Baytex recently indicated that it might resume development activity in Canada in 2017. Chief executive officer Jim Bowzer said during a conference call on Nov. 2 that a program would make sense at oil prices of $50 (U.S.) or higher. "The jury is still out," he cautioned, particularly with the OPEC meeting looming at the end of the month. Now, however -- despite the fact that prices have yet to stabilize above $50 (U.S.), and the fact that the OPEC meeting continues to loom -- Baytex seems more certain than ever that Canada is once again deserving of cash. It plans to pay $65-million for its new assets, and says that for another $30-million, it can double their production by bringing shut-in volumes back on stream within a couple of years. To finance the acquisition, it has arranged a $100-million bought deal of 19.05 million shares at $5.25. This will boost its share count to just under 230 million.

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