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by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for June delivery lost $4.15 to $102.27 on the New York Merc, while Brent for July lost $4.57 to $109.87, giving back some of yesterday's big gains as U.S. military leaders said a ceasefire with Iran remains in effect (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $18.40 to WTI, up from a discount of $27.80. Natural gas for June lost eight cents to $2.78. The TSX energy index added 5.89 points to close at 437.40.

The Lundin family's International Petroleum Corp. (IPCO) added 51 cents to $38.18 on 164,100 shares, after releasing its first quarter financials and boosting its full-year guidance. As most budgets were set months ago when oil prices were much lower, investors are now watching to see whether producers give in to the temptation of increasing activity to capture higher prices. The mood was still cautious as little as three weeks ago, with several executives telling a Toronto energy conference that they were holding off on budget changes because of the potentially "fickle" nature of the price spike. That was when the forward curve showed WTI retreating to around $70 (U.S.) by year-end. Now that figure is expected to be around $85 (U.S.), and analysts are increasingly hearing of a "push to accelerate drilling and completion activity," as one analyst (ATB's Patrick O'Rourke) said this week.

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