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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery tumbled $2.46 to $48.90 on the New York Merc, while Brent for July shed $2.50 to $51.46 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $10.30 to WTI ($38.60), unchanged. Natural gas for June lost three cents to $3.18. The TSX energy index lost 4.83 points to close at 189.59.

All eyes were on the outcome of today's OPEC meeting in Vienna. As widely expected, the cartel and other oil-producing countries have decided to extend the production-cutting agreement announced last November, when they agreed to limit their production to a total of 32.5 million barrels a day for the first six months of 2017 (a roughly 1.2-million-barrel-a-day reduction from their output at the time). Now the cuts will continue through the first three months of 2018. The news came as a blow to traders who had hoped for more aggressive action, such as a longer extension or an agreement to deepen the cuts. Here in Canada, several companies saw their shares drop by at least 5 per cent, including Baytex Energy Corp. (BTE), down 31 cents to $4.15, Penn West Petroleum Ltd. (PWT), down 14 cents to $1.96, and TORC Oil & Gas Ltd. (TOG), down 34 cents to $5.69.

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