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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery lost 19 cents to $59.69 on the New York Merc, while Brent for July added 22 cents to $66.81 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $8.75 to WTI ($50.94), up from a discount of $8.80. Natural gas for June added 0.8 cents to $3.01. The TSX energy index added 1.45 points to close at 222.02.

Wade Cherwayko's Mart Resources Inc. (MMT) dipped to 51 cents before closing at 64 cents, unchanged, on 8.77 million shares. Its first quarter results were underwhelming and there was no satisfactory update on a possible 80-cent-a-share takeover -- "possible" being the key word, as the stock has not gone anywhere near 80 cents since the takeover was proposed, indicating deep skepticism. Starting with the quarterly results, Mart's production fell to 8,785 barrels of oil a day in the first quarter of 2015 from 10,620 barrels a day in the fourth quarter of 2014. That partly reflects the way its production is calculated. Its main asset is the Umusadege field in Nigeria, which is owned by Midwestern Oil and SunTrust Oil. Mart receives a share of production for providing services. This ranges from 50 to 82.5 per cent, depending on cost recoveries, and averaged 81.1 per cent in 2014. In the first quarter of 2015, however, it sank to 56.4 per cent. Other notable items related to Mart's debt and its on-leave CEO, Mr. Cherwayko. Mart recently reached an agreement with Guaranty Trust Bank for a year-long deferral of principal loan repayments. That is good news, but the debt is still high, at over $200-million (U.S.). The stressed finances are one reason why the stock has fallen from around $1.50 a year ago. Other pressure came from Mr. Cherwayko, who sold five million shares in December but did not file SEDI reports until mid-February. Mart put him on leave and began investigating his conduct. Although his name does not appear once in today's press release, new SEDAR filings show that a special committee has found that he violated Mart's insider trading policy and code of conduct, for several reasons in addition to the untimely SEDI reports. The committee recommends that he not be nominated as a director at the June 15 annual and special meeting.

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