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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for August delivery added $1.20 to $79.34, while Brent for September added $1.43 to $84.73 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $15.30 to WTI, up from a discount of $21.10. Natural gas for August added one cent to $2.90. The TSX energy index lost 3.73 points to close at 402.79.

Oil prices hit a one-month high on escalating tensions in the Middle East. U.S. President Donald Trump, who yesterday claimed that his country would become the "guardian" of the Strait of Hormuz in exchange for a 20-per-cent cargo fee, walked back this proposal today and vowed instead to secure "massive" trade and investment deals with the Gulf States. No states have announced any commitments as of yet.

Here in Canada, the oil patch remained abuzz over the memorandum of understanding (MOU) between Ottawa, Alberta and a group of oil sands producers collectively called the Oil Sands Alliance. The MOU, which was signed July 2 but published yesterday, commits the parties to develop fiscal and regulatory frameworks aimed at boosting oil production, which would help fill the proposed West Coast oil pipeline, whose construction is mutually dependent on the Oil Sands Alliance's proposed Pathways carbon capture project -- a carrot-and-stick balancing act that took months to negotiate and remains subject to final agreements this fall.

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