Energy Summary for Dec. 15, 202
2022-12-15 20:56 ET - Market Summary
by Stockwatch Business Reporter
West Texas Intermediate crude for January delivery lost $1.17 to $76.11 on the New York Merc, while Brent for February lost $1.49 to $81.21 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $26.50 to WTI, unchanged. Natural gas for January added 54 cents to $6.97. The TSX energy index lost 2.44 points to close at 239.22.
After three straight days of gains, oil prices pulled back today on recession fears. The Bank of England and the European Central Bank hiked interest rates today in an effort to curb inflation. The U.S. Federal Reserve also signalled that it will continue to raise interest rates next year, possibly to the highest level since 2007. Further weighing on oil prices was a weak industrial report from China, which posted its slowest monthly increase in factory output since May, amid surging COVID cases and lockdowns.
Closer to home, Western Canadian and Texas oil producer Baytex Energy Corp. (BTE) edged up three cents to $5.92 on 5.33 million shares. Fresh SEDI filing shows that new president and chief executive officer Eric Greager, who took over from Ed LaFehr last month, bought his very first shares in the company this week. He spent $136,507 and now owns 23,000 of Baytex's 547 million shares.
Presumably Mr. Greager has a good feeling about the guidance that Baytex put out last week, when it set its sights on full-year 2023 production of 86,000 to 89,000 barrels a day, on a budget of $575-million to $650-million. These numbers generally matched analysts' predictions. Mr. Greager emphasized that the program should bring in "meaningful" free cash flow, allowing Baytex to continue reducing its debt and (he hopes) double the amount of money that it can devote to share buybacks by around midyear. (He continued his predecessor's policy of shying away from any prediction of when Baytex might revive its long-dormant dividend, in hibernation since 2015.)