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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for May delivery lost $2.24 to $102.13 on the New York Merc, while Brent for June lost 68 cents to $109.27 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $18.30 to WTI ($83.83), unchanged. Natural gas for May added 4.2 cents to $4.73. The TSX energy index added a fraction to close at 315.09.

Rick McHardy's Spartan Energy Corp. (SPE) lost six cents to $4.19 on 5.48 million shares. Last week, it rose from $3.98 after releasing better-than-expected production and test results in Saskatchewan. Current output is about 6,600 barrels of oil equivalent a day, compared with the 6,150 barrel-a-day estimate as of year-end 2013, as announced on March 31 after Spartan completed its takeover of Renegade Petroleum. The latest wells have tested above the company's type curves. In the Queensdale area of southeast Saskatchewan, a former Renegade asset, four Frobisher wells drilled in the first quarter showed 30-day initial production rates (IP30) of 189 barrels a day. This compares with the model IP30 estimate of just 60 barrels a day. (Only one of the 10 wells Spartan or Renegade recently drilled in this area, No. 5, had an IP30 anywhere near this model estimate, at 67 barrels a day. The others have all tested much higher and the average across the 10 is 189 barrels a day. Still, management likes the more conservative estimate of 60, for budgeting purposes.) President and chief executive officer McHardy told the Calgary Herald he has "hit the ground running" and is "really excited" about Spartan's assets. He plans to have two core areas, one in southeast Saskatchewan and the other to be determined. The goal is to reach production of 10,000 to 15,000 barrels a day over the next 12 to 18 months.

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