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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for November delivery added 92 cents to $82.70 on the New York Merc, while Brent for December added $1.70 to $85.82 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $13.50 to WTI ($69.20), down from a discount of $12.55. Natural gas for November lost 0.4 cent to $3.79. The TSX energy index added 8.08 points to close at 257.49.

WTI for November dipped as low as a $79.78 (U.S.) this morning, its first time below $80 (U.S.) since June, 2012. This naturally prompted more excited talk of a bottom. In turn, this may have spurred support for Toronto's bedraggled energy group. The S&P/TSX Composite Index has 251 constituents, of which 44 are oil and gas producers. Forty-one of those 44 ended the day up.

Some of those companies, such as Paul Colborne's Surge Energy Inc. (SGY), up 22 cents to $6.38 on 7.3 million shares, and Derek Evans's Pengrowth Energy Corp. (PGF), up 28 cents to $4.63 on 4.02 million shares, have other factors to thank for the gains. Both were at the Canaccord Genuity Global Resources Conference in New York. As well, Surge's recent insider buying got a mention in today's Globe and Mail, and president and chief executive officer Colborne was on BNN. He thinks that "things are quite good" for Canadian producers. Oil prices have taken a tumble, but the overall fundamentals are better than when he became president and CEO in the spring of last year. The Brent-WTI differential has gone to $3 from $24, heavy oil differentials have gone to about $13 from $32 and the Canadian dollar against the U.S. one has gone to 88 cents from $1.05. "We're getting almost $93 a barrel for our crude," pointed out Mr. Colborne. The interviewer noted that the market still seems worried about Surge's five-cent monthly dividend, which yields 9.4 per cent. Mr. Colborne defended the dividend as "one of the most resilient in the country." Even if WTI went to $79 (U.S.) and stayed there for an entire year, Surge's payout ratio would still only be 100 per cent, he said. (At current prices it is 90 per cent.) Mr. Colborne and other insiders seem confident. Many of them acquired thousands of shares this month through warrant exercises and stock dividends, and Mr. Colborne and director Robert Leach also bought 47,500 shares and 143,000 shares, respectively, in the market.

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