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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery added 73 cents to $71.72 on the New York Merc, while Brent for March added 65 cents to $74.64 (all figures in this para U.S.). Both benchmarks ended the year almost exactly where they began it, although not without plenty of excitement along the way. Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $13.20 to WTI, down from a discount of $12.80. Natural gas for February plummeted 30 cents to $3.63 (but is still up by 45 per cent on the year). The TSX energy index added 4.00 points to close at 267.13.

The oil patch waved farewell to a roller coaster of a year. Of the 31 stocks in the TSX energy index, 21 ended the year higher, with gains ranging from a dismissable 1 per cent to a delightful 188 per cent. Ten stocks ended the year lower, handing investors losses of 2 per cent to 43 per cent. The average return of all 31 stocks (not counting dividends) was about 24 per cent. That is still only about half of what investors could have gained had they sold the 31 stocks at their 52-week highs, many of which were reached in the spring.

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