This item is part of Stockwatch's value added news feed and is only available to Stockwatch subscribers.

Here is a sample of this item:

by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for September delivery lost 31 cents to $48.14 on the New York Merc, while Brent for September lost 65 cents to $54.62 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $15.90 to WTI ($32.24), down from a discount of $15.85. Natural gas for August lost four cents to $2.776. The TSX energy index lost 4.00 points to close at 179.21.

EnCana Corp. (ECA) shed 97 cents to $10.26, a 13-year-low, on 18.6 million shares, after posting a $1.6-billion (U.S.) loss for the second quarter. This was mainly because of a $1.3-billlion (U.S.) non-cash impairment charge that reflected lower commodity prices. Looking just at operations, the company suffered a loss of $167-million (U.S.) or 20 U.S. cents a share, worse than analysts' average prediction of 13 U.S. cents a share. Revenue, cash flow and production were also lower than analysts had generally predicted. Although EnCana patted itself on the back for increasing its high-margin liquids production to 127,300 barrels a day in the second quarter from 120,700 in the first quarter, total production (including gas) slumped to 389,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day from 430,100. The company blamed the decrease on asset sales, bad weather and flooding in the United States, infrastructure constraints in the U.S. and Canada, and the seasonal shut-in of its Deep Panuke project offshore Nova Scotia. It still maintained its full-year production guidance at 395,000 to 430,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.

The remainder is available to Stockwatch subscribers.
Sign-up for a FREE 30-day Stockwatch subscription and SEE NO ADS