It’s been a tough week for investors as stocks plummeted but there has been some good news.
Smallcap Oil & Gas round-up with a sprinkling of Miners 05. Aug.2011
Aurelian Oil & Gas;
Announced that 100,000 ordinary shares of 5 pence have been issued to advisers to the Company on the exercise of warrants issued in connection with the Initial Public Offer of Aurelian’s shares in 2006. The consideration paid for the shares is 55 pence per share, the price of the initial offer. Application has been made for the new ordinary shares to be admitted to trading on AIM.
Bowleven;
Concluded its testing programme at Sapele-2 on block MLHP-5, Etinde Permit, offshore Cameroon. Bowleven has now flowed oil on test from the Deep Omicron interval at both Sapele-1ST and Sapele-2 and achieved the first hydrocarbon flow from the Lower Omicron interval. Comparisons with Sapele-1 and seismic interpretation indicate a laterally extensive Deep Omicron system.
Cadogan Petroleum;
Announced that it had completed a review of the Cadogan Board structure and composition following the completion of a major transaction with Eni. Ian Baron currently CEO, becomes Chief Operating Officer and Bertrand des Pallieres, currently a non-executive Director, becomes Chief Executive Officer. Gordon Stein will remain as Chief Financial Officer.
Dominion Petroleum;
Some good news for holders of Dominion the company has been awarded Block L15 of the Lamu Basin, offshore Kenya. Dominion also secured Block L9, offshore Kenya, in March 2011. The Initial Exploration Period of the PSC will last for two years with a minimum work commitment of $2.85m including 250 square kilometres of 3D seismic data acquisition.
Egdon Resources;
Informed the market that it has agreed to sell a 10% interest in the Avington oil field onshore UK, for £400,000 in cash to two privately owned companies. Egdon will retain a 26.67% interest in the licence and the Avington oil field. Oil Production averaged approximately 70 barrels of oil per day in June 2011.
Global Petroleum;
Appointed Peter Hill as their Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer with effect from 1 September. Hill was previously the global head of Corporate M&A for Statoil. Previously he set up the international business of Waterous & Co in the UK, and before that worked for Enterprise Oil.
Gulf Keystone Petroleum;
Issued a statement on the sudden fall in its share price. The statement confirmed that it knows of no reason for this decline, beyond general market turmoil. The Company remains completely focused on the active exploration and appraisal programme across all the four blocks in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, including the current drilling operations at the Shaikan-2, Shaikan-4, Sheikh Adi-1 and Bekhme-1 well and is expecting to commence oil exports at an initial stabilised rate of 5,000 barrels of oil per day (“bopd”) in the coming months increasing this target to 10,000 bopd shortly thereafter. Gulf Keystone will be providing further operational updates in due course and will report half year results in September 2011.
Hardy Oil & Gas;
Announced that the PY-3 oil field in India has been temporarily shut-in pending Management Committee approval of the award of a contract for the field’s floating production system. Hardy is the operator of the PY-3 field and holds an 18% participating interest.
Leni Gas & Oil;
Has now reinstated production at the Hontomin-2 well in Northern Spain. A total of 13.5 metres of perforations were opened. The well continues to clean-up with water cut reducing and oil production increasing. The well is producing approximately 180 bfpd and the water cut has been falling. In October 2010, Hontomin-2 reached a production rate of over 85 bopd.
Nostra Terra Oil & Gas;
The tiddler said that drilling has begun on it’s initial well in the Verde prospect, located in south-eastern Colorado. Drilling of the well is expected to be completed by the end of August, depending on operations and possible formation tests.
Pathfinder Minerals;
The natural resources company with licences to mine heavy minerals sands in Mozambique, announces that the Company’s Remuneration Committee has agreed to grant options to Directors to acquire ordinary shares in Pathfinder Minerals PLC at an exercise price of 10p, and with a vesting date of 27 July 2012, exercisable within 5 years following the date of grant.
Petroceltic International;
Published results of the well test at the Ain Tsila field on its Isarene permit in south eastern Algeria. The AT-5 well tested at a maximum flow rate of 3.50mmscf/d on a 64/64? choke with 60 bbl/d of condensate and 190 bbl/d of water. While the flow rate is lower than pre-test expectations, this is the third of four wells tested in the Ain Tsila discovery to flow at rates that are likely to be deemed commercial.
PetroNeft Resources;
Some good news amongst the fallers this week AS PETRONEFT announced its largest single discovery to date, the Sibkrayevskaya discovery, in Licence 61, Tomsk Oblast, Russian Federaration. Preliminary evaluation of the logs from the well indicates that the J1 interval consists of 12.6 metres of net pay with good reservoir properties and oil saturation throughout, exceeding pre-drill estimates. An open hole test was conducted over this interval and tested at a pro-rated inflow of 170 bopd unstimulated.
Range Resources REITERATED Red Emperor news as both companies announced that their Puntland Joint Venture partner and operator, Africa Oil, is in final preparations to commence the two well exploration drilling campaign in the Dharoor Valley Block in Puntland, with the first well scheduled to spud early in the fourth quarter of 2011.
Salamander Energy;
Informed investors that it had spud the Cat Ba-1X exploration well in Block 101-100/04, offshore northern Vietnam. The mean gross pre-drill estimate of prospective recoverable resource is approximately 100 MMbo. It is expected to take approximately 25 days to complete on a dry hole basis.
San Leon Energy;
Finally announced that it has completed its 168 sq. km 3D seismic acquisition program over the Nowa Sol license in the Southern Permian Basin of Poland. Final processed results are expected in September. San Leon Energy plans to commence a two to three well drilling campaign by the end of 2011.
Solo Oil;
Released news on their Ausable#5 well which has been tied-in to the Ausable central production facilities and has been producing oil at variable rates since 22 July 2011 by means of a beam pump. The produced oil continues to foam with the completion fluids as a result it has so far not been possible to establish a representative production rate. The field has now been shut in for a period of time to provide fluid level and pressure build up data that is necessary to determine the Ausable #5 likely flow rate. At Ausable #2, efforts to recover the frac tool left behind during work in 2010 has been started and should take about two weeks.
Volga Oil & Gas;
Announced it has received its well passport for a new 58 million barrel supra-salt prospect (Mirnaya) in it’s Precaspian Licence Area. Drilling operations are expected to commence before the end of Q4 2011.
