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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery added $1.01 to $51.53 on the New York Merc, while Brent for April lost 47 cents to $60.55 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $14.35 to WTI ($37.18), unchanged. Natural gas for April added 5.7 cents to $2.76. The TSX energy index lost a fraction to close at 221.82.

Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE) added 42 cents to $22.24 on 16.2 million shares, on top of the 42 cents it added yesterday after closing a $1.5-billion bought deal of 67.5 million shares at $22.25. Response to the offering was initially muted. The underwriters, led by RBC Capital Markets and TD Securities, had trouble finding buyers, and the trading price of Cenovus's shares fell below the offer price. The overallotment of 10.1 million shares was not exercised. RBC analyst Greg Pardy, now off restriction, writes that the offering "caught us by surprise" (despite the fact that Cenovus was known to be facing a shortfall this year), but he still approves because it gives Cenovus financial breathing room while it tries to arrange an IPO or sale of its royalty assets. Cenovus said in a conference call last month that there has been "substantial interest" in these assets, but it does not want to be forced into a deal at an unreasonably low price. It also does not want to cut its dividend, which yields 4.8 per cent, and it says it cannot cut more than $500-million from its already-once-lowered budget, currently $1.9-billion. That left it little choice but to raise money through a share issuance.

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