BUZZ-Canadian energy shares weaken again on wildfire uncertainty

** Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) of Canadian energy companies hit by the Fort McMurray, Alberta, wildfire were mostly back in the red Wednesday even as producers signaled oil production could resume before long

** Shares of nine Toronto Stock Exchange-listed energy firms were down by around by 1 pct to 2 pct on average in early trading Wednesday as broader Canadian stock market was up 0.25 pct

** Energy firms down after posting big rebounds Tuesday when government and industry officials said restarts in the big production areas north of Fort McMurray were just days away in many cases

** The nine had sunk by an average of 5.2 pct in the first six days of trading in May vs a 2.75 pct decline for their U.S (Other OTC: UBGXF - news) . rivals in the S&P 500 Energy Index

** Athabasca Oil Co was off 1.8 pct early Wednesday after posting the group's biggest rebound on Tuesday, gaining 6.7 pct, its best day in two weeks. Production at its Hangingstone project site, south of Fort McMurray, remained shut. Company's shares took a hit of 18.6 pct since the fire broke out May 1

** Suncor Energy Inc (Toronto: SU.TO - news) slid 1.6 pct Wednesday after rising 3.85 pct Tuesday, its biggest daily gain since Feb 17. Shares of Suncor, the Fort McMurray area's biggest producer at 350,000 barrels per day, had sunk around 10 pct in the days after the fire broke out

** Other action in the group:

** Enbridge Inc (Toronto: ENB.TO - news) was down 1.4 pct following 3.5 pct advance on Tuesday, biggest gain since Feb 25

** Canadian Natural Resources was down 1.8 pct vs gain 3.2 pct gain Tuesday

** Husky Energy (Toronto: HSE.TO - news) was off 2.6 pct after rising 2.6 pct Tuesday

** Imperial Oil (Toronto: IMO.TO - news) was off 1.8 pct vs a 1.6 pct gain Tuesday

** Keyera Corp (Toronto: KEY.TO - news) dropped 2.2 pct vs a 2.8 pct gain Tuesday

** Inter Pipeline Ltd (Toronto: IPL.TO - news) was the only gainer in the group, up 0.3 pct on top of a 0.4 pct rise on Tuesday

** Connacher Oil and Gas Ltd (Toronto: CLC.TO - news) was unchanged after being the only stock in the group to fall on Tuesday