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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery added 50 cents to $47.83 on the New York Merc (all figures in this para U.S.). Brent for July added 55 cents to $50.77, holding above $50 as OPEC signalled its willingness to extend the six-month production-cutting agreement announced last November. The oil ministers of Iraq and Algeria, speaking at a joint press conference (as reported by Bloomberg), said that all OPEC members support an extension of the cuts for a further six months, as do non-member nations that joined last November's agreement (notably Russia). The official decision will be made at OPEC's next meeting in Vienna on May 25, said the ministers. Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $9.55 to WTI ($38.28), unchanged. Natural gas for June added eight cents to $3.38. The TSX energy index lost 1.68 points to close at 197.72.

George Fink's Bonterra Energy Corp. (BNE) lost $1.06 to $18.40 on 203,700 shares, after releasing the results of a difficult first quarter. The Alberta Cardium producer had intended to complete and tie in 14 wells during the quarter, but faced delays because of high demand for completion services. It managed to tie in a mere five wells. As a result, its quarterly production averaged just 12,053 barrels of oil equivalent a day, below its target of 12,600 barrels a day (and well below analysts' predictions of around 12,900 barrels a day). Cash flow came to 74 cents a share (compared with analysts' predictions of 92 cents a share). Bonterra says not to worry. It caught up on its completions after the quarter, boosting its production to 13,100 barrels a day in April. It still feels confident in its full-year target of 13,000 to 13,500 barrels a day.

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