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 August delivery added 55 cents to $64.92 on the New York Merc, while Brent for August added 54 cents to $67.68 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $11.70 to WTI, down from a discount of $11.50. Natural gas for July lost 13 cents to $3.40. The TSX energy index lost 1.42 points to close at 266.60.

Oil prices regained some ground, helped along by bullish supply data. In its latest weekly data release, the U.S. Energy Information Administration reported that U.S. crude inventories fell by 5.8 million barrels last week, whereas analysts were expecting a smaller decrease of 797,000 barrels. This is their fifth weekly decline in a row.

The Alberta- and Texas-focused Baytex Energy Corp. (BTE) added one cent to $2.50 on 9.33 million shares, after renewing its annual share buyback program. It can buy back up to 66.2 million of its 768 million shares over the next 12 months. (Its public float is just 662 million shares, with most of the rest held by Juniper Capital, owner of 101.1 million shares.) Baytex toasted the program as "an efficient means to return capital and improve per-share metrics." It reminded investors that over the prior 12 months, it spent about $150-million buying back 36.4 million shares. Unfortunately, this self-investment was not a winner. The average price to buy back each of those shares was $4.13, sharply higher than today's close of $2.50.

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