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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery added 81 cents to $64.36 on the New York Merc, while Brent for April added 99 cents to $69.04 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $16.30 to WTI, down from a discount of $15.60. Natural gas for March lost 28 cents to $3.13. The TSX energy index added 1.33 points to close at 345.69.

Terry Anderson's Montney-focused ARC Resources Ltd. (ARX) added 17 cents to $23.00 on 20.9 million shares, clawing back some of the $2.57 it lost Friday on a disappointing update from its Attachie project, whose guidance is being withdrawn because of underperformance. ARC stressed that its company-wide guidance is intact because other assets will compensate for Attachie (which makes up less than one-10th of overall output). Even so, the rush for the exits sent the stock as low as $21.14 on Friday, its lowest level in two years.

A nice green checkmark from a credit rating agency lifted ARC's spirits today. In a research note this morning -- one that obligingly omitted any mention of the word Attachie -- DBRS reaffirmed ARC's investment-grade rating of BBB, with a stable trend. "The credit rating confirmations and stable trends reflect [our] view that no material changes to ARC's credit fundamentals are expected in the near term," was the agency's soothing outlook. Highlighting ARC's full-year guidance of 405,000 to 420,000 barrels a day, DBRS noted that this represents an 8- to 12-per-cent increase from 2025 -- nothing to sneeze at, even if most of it is from a $1.6-billion asset acquisition from Strathcona Resources Ltd. (SCR: $27.92) last July. DBRS sees potential for a rating upgrade if ARC continues to boost production while maintaining a sturdy balance sheet.

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