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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for March delivery added 95 cents to $77.87 on the New York Merc, while Brent added 77 cents to $82.77 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $!9.30 to WTI, down from a discount of $19.40. Natural gas for March lost eight cents to $1.69. The TSX energy index lost 3.90 points to close at 237.08.

Wayne Foo's Colombian oil producer, Parex Resources Inc. (PXT), tumbled $1.61 to $20.40 on 2.12 million shares, as regional instability forced it to suspend some of its production yet again. Amid "ongoing social protests" (which are directed at the Colombian government, not oil and gas operators), the company has halted operations at its Capachos and Arauca blocks. It reassured investors that the disruption should not affect the full-year production guidance it released last month.

Investors did not feel reassured. While the two blocks are minor contributors to production, these announcements are becoming outsized contributors to Parex's news feed. These same blocks were already suspended for months in 2023 because of similar "heightened security concerns." Before that, "social instability and labour disruptions" caused shut-ins at various operations in 2021 and 2022, not just for Parex but also for other Colombian producers such as Frontera Energy Corp. (FEC: $7.95) and Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (GTE: $6.83). The protesters have a habit of blockading transportation routes, which causes the disruptions by preventing deliveries of food, equipment and other products.

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