The Globe and Mail reports in its Saturday edition that the special dividends that made Tourmaline Oil a stock market darling a few years ago are dwindling, and that is weighing on the company's share price. The Globe's David Berman writes that the good news is that gas prices could be headed higher soon. In 2022, Tourmaline's free cash flow increased to $3.2-billion, up from $1.5-billion in 2021 as the price of natural gas surged amid global supply shocks. The cash fed a series of special dividends that added up to a whopping $7 a share. Based on an average share price of $66.94 that year, the total yield was nearly 12 per cent. Cue the disappointment: Since 2022, the fluctuating payouts have dwindled as gas prices declined from their highs. Tourmaline paid a total of $5.50 a share in special dividends in 2023, $2 a share in 2024 and $1.30 a share in 2025. Tourmaline's drifting share price, which is 27 per cent below its peak, suggests that investors are perhaps not as enamoured with the concept of fluctuating special dividends when fluctuating means down. Investors might also be wrestling with Tourmaline's plan to sell some of its properties in Alberta and use the proceeds to finance growth in British Columbia.