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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery added 34 cents to $44.66 on the New York Merc, while Brent for July added 36 cents to $45.37 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $12.05 to WTI ($32.58), up from a discount of $12.84, as the Fort McMurray fire continued to rage in Alberta. The fire has forced producers to shut in about one million barrels a day, by some estimates. (Total oil sands production in 2014, according to the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers, was 2.2 million barrels a day.) Natural gas for June added 2.55 cents to $2.101. The TSX energy index added 1.59 points to close at 177.40.

Crew Energy Inc. (CR) added 29 cents to $5.14 on 2.98 million shares, after releasing a resource update on its B.C. Montney assets for year-end 2015, along with its financial results for the first quarter of 2016. The resource update showed ECR (economic contingent resources) of nine trillion cubic feet equivalent, up from 8.3 trillion at year-end 2014. Crew patted itself on the back for its "highly successful" development efforts. As for the first quarter of 2016, Crew's production came to 23,832 barrels of oil equivalent a day, roughly in line with analysts predictions. Quarterly cash flow was slightly better than the predictions, at eight cents a share rather than seven cents a share, thanks to cost improvements. Crew lowered its operating costs to $6.45 a barrel in the first quarter from $9.28 a barrel a year earlier and from $11.35 the year before that. Some of the improvement reflects declines at (and a general de-emphasis on) higher-cost production at Crew's non-Montney assets, specifically its Lloydminster heavy oil assets in Alberta and Saskatchewan, which contributed just over one-10th of total production in the most recent quarter, down from over one-fifth two years ago. Crew is also lowering its costs in the Montney. It figures that the cost to drill, complete and tie in a well is now $3.5-million, down from $4-million last year and $5-million a year before that. All in all, Crew seems more pleased than ever with its Montney performance, as do some analysts. TD Securities' Juan Jarrah wrote that Crew is "kick-starting the year" nicely and raised his price target on the stock to $6.50 from $6, while Scotia Capital's Cameron Bean raised his target to $7 from $6.50 while burbling about "approaching Crew-sing altitude."

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