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 February delivery added 69 cents to $74.25 on the New York Merc, while Brent for March added 75 cents to $77.05 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $12.50 to WTI, down from a discount of $11.70. Natural gas for February lost 22 cents to $3.44. The TSX energy index added 4.70 points to close at 280.29.

Oil sands giant Suncor Energy Inc. (SU) added $2.09 to $55.04 on 11.5 million shares, as it showed off its record collection. "Suncor Energy achieves record quarterly and full-year operational results," it blared in an operational update, which went on to use the word "record" no fewer than 12 times in 16 sentences. President and chief executive officer Rich Kruger stirred in some variety with praise for "exceptionally strong" numbers that landed "above the high end of guidance."

Specifically, Suncor was aiming for full-year production of 770,000 to 810,000 barrels a day, and had left that guidance unchanged in November even after disclosing that its year-to-date production (up to Sept. 30) had averaged 812,000 barrels a day. It stayed mum at the time on whether it expected to see a large drop in the fourth quarter or simply continue barrelling ahead of its guidance. Its new press release answered that question: Fourth quarter production came to 874,000 barrels a day, the highest in the company's history, and the full-year average came to 827,000 barrels a day. Suncor's downstream (refining) division also broke records for throughput and utilization.

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