Today Provident Energy (PVX: chart, web, Y!) announced that the February cash distribution will remain at $0.12 USD per share payable on March 14th.

In addition, they announced the characterization of dividends for 2007 distributions as 97.58 percent qualified dividend and 2.42 percent tax deferred return of capital. The tax deferred portion is treated as an adjustment to the cost base of the shares.

This characterization is the last piece of information I need to finish up organizing my 2007 tax information.

It’s good to see the return of capital is so low. Fundamentally it means that the company has been able …

I bought more Provident Energy (PVX: chart, web, Y!) today, adding another 50 shares to my holdings. Crude oil ($wtic: chart) spiked on the news that Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Pakistan, and natural gas ($natgas: chart) is holding its own above $7 going into the cold weather season.

I’m playing the trend. I’m in the stock for the dividend, but if the price rises to $13 I’ll definitely take some off the table. 30% price appreciation is too much to pass up, especially when you see it coming. …

My Provident Energy Trust (PVX: chart, web, Y!) has been on the slide since the beginning of November. I can’t figure out why.

The only conclusion I can come to is that it’s attributed to end of year tax selling, but that theory only makes marginal sense. After all, PVX is continuing its CDN$0.12 monthly dividend, and fundamentally, I don’t see why they’d drop the distribution any time soon. Crude oil ($wtic: chart) is still North of $90 per barrel, and natural gas ($natgas: chart) is holding above $7 per MCF….

Yesterday Provident Energy (PVX: chart, web, Y!) entered an agreement to buy out a privately held company with oil assets in southeast Saskatchewan for $79 million in shares.

The short end of this is that PVX is spending money to increase reserves, and add to their daily production. In fact, they’ll add 1,300 barrels per day of production, nearly all of which is crude. Provident’s proved plus probable reserves are estimated at 3.6 million barrels of oil.

“This acquisition provides excellent strategic and economic value to Provident, improving the quality and supporting the sustainability of our existing southeast Saskatchewan assets,” …

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