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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery added $1.72 to $58.98 on the New York Merc, while Brent for July added $1.01 to $65.03 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $9.75 to WTI ($49.23), down from a discount of $8.65. Natural gas for June lost 3.3 cents to $2.91. The TSX energy index added 1.63 points to close at 220.56.

Pacific Rubiales Energy Corp. (PRE) added 37 cents to $6.19 on 8.7 million shares, as its takeover tussle got more interesting. On May 5, Pacific Rubiales said it was in talks about a $6.50-a-share offer from Mexico's Alfa SAB and Harbour Energy. Alfa already owns 59.89 million or 18.95 per cent of the company's 316 million shares. The official offer could come as soon as tomorrow, according to a Financial Times report today. Some major shareholders feel the offer price is too low compared with the stock's 52-week high of $23.86. Yesterday evening, O'Hara Administration and affiliates announced that they may take "any and all actions" to block the takeover, including acquiring more shares themselves. They already own 19.49 per cent. Crossing the 20-per-cent threshold would require a full takeover offer. When O'Hara filed its initial warning report on April 21, it named just two affiliates and said the trio held 10.29 per cent. Over the following weeks, those two affiliates bought more shares and six new affiliates were added to the mix, nearly doubling O'Hara et al.'s position. One of the additions was Spanish billionaire Alberto Cortino's Cinainvest Holding, which owns 500,000 shares. Mr. Cortino told Bloomberg at the time that he made the investment to help out a friend. "I'm here to support Alejandro. I'm a fireman. Whenever there's a problem around the world, I go there to sort it out for my partners," he said. Alejandro is Alejandro Betancourt, who controls O'Hara and faces "fires" much bigger than the fight for Pacific Rubiales. He is also the CEO of the controversial Venezuelan company Derwick Associates.

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