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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery lost 47 cents to $53.59 on the New York Merc, while Brent for April lost 82 cents to $55.84 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $14.10 to WTI ($39.49), unchanged. Natural gas for March added three cents to $2.59. The TSX energy index lost 6.19 points to close at 201.79.

Western Canadian gas producers took notice as TransCanada made another offer to lower tolls on its mainline system, which runs from Alberta to Ontario, in exchange for a longer shipping commitment. The renewed offer comes less than three weeks after U.S. regulators approved the rival Rover pipeline, which will carry American gas into Ontario. This increased competition will put pressure on both TransCanada and Canadian gas producers to maintain their market share. As discussed most recently in the Feb. 14 Energy Summary, TransCanada previously proposed a mainline toll reduction in exchange for a decade-long commitment last fall, but then cancelled the proposal after failing to receive enough bids. Some producers (as quoted in Reuters in November) opined that the proposed tolls, which ranged from 75 cents to 82 cents a gigajoule depending on volume, were "still too high for such a long-term commitment," even though they were down sharply from the previous toll of around $1.40 a gigajoule. It was widely expected that if TransCanada reopened the proposal, it would cut the tolls even more.

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