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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for July delivery added 70 cents to $82.17 on the New York Merc, while Brent for August added 64 cents to $85.71 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $14.60 to WTI, down from a discount of $15. Natural gas for July fell 18 cents to $2.74. The TSX energy index added 1.46 points to close at 277.40.

Oil prices headed higher, supported by bullish U.S. supply data. The U.S. Energy Information Administration (releasing its weekly report a day later than usual, with yesterday being a holiday for Juneteenth) reported that domestic crude inventories fell by 2.5 million barrels last week. This was slightly better than analysts' predictions of a drop of 2.2 million barrels.

Here in Canada, oil sands giant Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (CNQ) added 65 cents to $47.88 on 50 million shares, buoyed by oil prices and some pep from its cheerleading squad (also known as analysts). "CNQ is our favourite senior producer," chanted the analysts at RBC in a research note this morning, after a meeting with chief financial officer Mark Stainthorpe. That is how the dance often works: Companies dispatch executives with a tailored message for analysts, who, ever so pleased with their preferential access, oblige with a boosterish write-up to get the message to the street. In this case, the theme communicated to and by the RBC analysts was Canadian Natural's "abundant free cash flow" and "100-per-cent shareholder returns."

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