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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for February delivery lost $1.36 to $78.68 on the New York Merc, while Brent for March lost 74 cents to $81.29 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $12.10 to WTI, up from a discount of $15.60. Natural gas for February added 17 cents to $4.25. The TSX energy index added 5.00 points to close at 274.47.

Oil prices wobbled as traders weighed rumours about the fate of U.S. sanctions on Russian energy exports. A Bloomberg report said advisers to president-elect Donald Trump are crafting two sets of policy recommendations. One would ease the current sanctions as a good-faith measure to help seal a peace deal with Ukraine, while the other would toughen the sanctions to ramp up pressure.

Here in Canada, similar uncertainty has been hanging over the oil patch as to whether Mr. Trump will make good on his threat to levy a 25-per-cent tariff on Canadian goods (including oil and gas) and how Canada might respond. The federal government reiterated yesterday that all options are under consideration. That is not the case for Alberta Premier Danielle Smith, who yesterday was the lone premier refusing to sign a joint leaders' statement agreeing to "work together on a full range of measures to ensure a robust response." She said her province "will simply not agree" to two of the ideas being floated, namely taxing or reducing energy exports. The sector is no fan of these ideas either: This morning, the Canadian Association of Energy Contractors (CAOEC) issued a statement opposing "any proposal to impose retaliatory export, taxes or bans on Canadian oil and gas," echoing the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), which voiced its opposition earlier this week.

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