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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery, the benchmark in North America, lost 42 cents to $101.67 on the New York Merc, while Brent for September, the benchmark in Europe, lost 82 cents to $107.57 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select, Canada's heavy oil benchmark, traded at a discount of $24 to WTI ($77.67), unchanged. Natural gas for August, the international benchmark, lost 3.4 cents to $3.74. The TSX energy index lost 2.73 points to close at 322.22.

Athabasca Oil Corp. (ATH) lost 47 cents to $6.41 on 10.4 million shares. The stock has fallen from $7.80 at the beginning of the month, on fears that the company will not receive a $1.23-billion payment owed by PetroChina. Under the terms of a put option Athabasca exercised in April, PetroChina is obligated to buy the company's 40-per-cent interest in the Dover oil sands project in Alberta. The proceeds were originally expected by June 30. Since that day, various sources -- generally anonymous -- have declared that PetroChina: (i) will honour the contract; (ii) will not honour the contract (even though it is binding); or (iii) will try to negotiate a reduced payment. All this comes amidst a Chinese corruption probe that has led to a string of arrests of PetroChina executives connected to Athabasca. Today, Athabasca's management tried to put out the fire by announcing that it is working to close the deal in accordance with the put/call option terms, implying that it will not accept anything less than what it is owed. IR man Matthew Taylor also told the Financial Post this weekend that Athabasca is in the last stages of closing the deal with PetroChina and will issue an update "in a timely fashion." ("Timely" must mean by Aug. 6, the day Athabasca will release its second quarter financials. If the deal has not closed by then, shareholders will want a detailed explanation.) Raymond James analyst Chris Cox is skeptical. He wrote in a research note today that he does not "foresee any improved clarity on [the Dover] issue for some time," and slashed his price target to $7.50 from $10.

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