Energy Summary for Feb. 21, 2018

by Stockwatch Business Reporter

West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery lost 22 cents to $61.68 on the New York Merc, while Brent for April gained 17 cents to $65.42 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $28 to WTI ($33.68), unchanged. Natural gas for March gained four cents to $2.66. The TSX energy index lost 1.57 points to 172.07.

Rick McHardy's Saskatchewan oil producer, Spartan Energy Corp. (SPE), slipped one cent to $5.82 on 2.13 million shares, after announcing that it produced 22,200 barrels of oil equivalent a day in 2017. This result is in line with investors' and analysts' expectations, largely because Spartan has closely managed those expectations. In the second half of 2017, the company raised its production guidance twice, first from 21,080 barrels a day to 21,600, then to 22,000. This year, Spartan aims to produce 23,400 barrels a day.

Spartan's one-year chart is a picture of many hills; the stock typically goes on month-long stretches of gaining or losing about $1 or $2. Its most recent month-long descent, which brought it to $5.40 from $7.60, ended about 1-1/2 weeks ago. Around that same time, Cambridge Global Asset Management disclosed that it had been reducing its position. Cambridge sold a total of 12.7 million shares, leaving it with 6.8 million shares or 3.8 per cent of Spartan. Since then, Spartan has mostly been going uphill again.

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