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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery added 66 cents to $53.00 on the New York Merc, while Brent for April added 51 cents to $55.63 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $13.40 to WTI ($39.60), unchanged. Natural gas for March lost one cent to $3.12. The TSX energy index added 4.55 points to close at 202.12.

Fourth quarter reporting season in the oil patch kicked off yesterday after the close, beginning with ARC Resources Ltd. (ARX), up 52 cents to $20.29 on 4.42 million shares. Production in the fourth quarter came to 117,611 barrels of oil equivalent a day, slightly below analysts' predictions of about 120,400 barrels a day, while cash flow of 53 cents a share fell below predictions of 57 cents a share. Part of the blame went to a third party pipeline problem in the B.C. Montney that affected roughly 1,100 barrels a day. The Montney, in both British Columbia and Alberta, contributes roughly four-fifths of total production. ARC recently unloaded its assets in Saskatchewan, selling them for $700-million to Spartan Energy Corp. (SPE: $2.81) in December, so that ARC could narrow its focus on the Montney. Analysts speculated that ARC would use some of the proceeds to increase its Montney spending and pay down its debt. ARC has now done both. Its fourth quarter financials showed net debt of around $350-million as of Dec. 31, down from $1-billion as of Sept. 30, and the company has boosted its 2017 budget to $750-million from $665-million, with much of the increase going toward accelerated plant expansions in the Parkland/Tower and Sunrise areas of the B.C. Montney.

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