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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery lost 19 cents to $55.14 on the New York Merc, while Brent for January lost 51 cents to $61.36 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $14.40 to WTI ($40.74), unchanged. Natural gas for December lost three cents to $3.05. The TSX energy index lost 1.37 points to close at 190.85.

Alberta Montney gas producer Seven Generations Energy Ltd. (VII) reached an intraday low of $16.06 before closing at $16.58, down $1.79, on 14 million shares. Investors were not at all pleased with the 2018 budget that it released this morning. The company plans to spend about $1.67-billion to $1.77-billion in 2018, higher than this year's budget of $1.5-billion to $1.6-billion. The increase is an unexpected move, given that other Western Canadian gas producers, such as Tourmaline Oil Corp. (TOU: $24.34), ARC Resources Ltd. (ARX: $16.01) and Peyto Exploration & Development Corp. (PEY: $16.62), have preferred to lower their budgets, citing volatile gas prices. Seven Generations' decision is also a surprise given the remarks that president and chief executive officer Marty Proctor made just two weeks ago in a conference call to discuss the company's third quarter financials. These financials, notably, contained the news that Seven Generations expects to exceed its above-mentioned 2017 budget by about $50-million to $150-million. That the company is a heavy spender is no surprise; already this year (up to Sept. 30) it has outspent its cash flow by over $500-million. Yet Mr. Proctor seemed to suggest during the conference call that 2018 could be different. He spoke of "reluctance to chase growth" in an unfavourable price environment, and noted that Seven Generations has previously set "ambitious growth targets ... but we have disappointed shareholders by coming up a little short of expectations." He said the company "can now alter our growth trajectory ... to reflect the price signals we are receiving from the commodity market."

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