Oilman Jim

I3 Energy (I3E) started its North Sea drilling campaign, announcing the spud of the LPt-02 pilot well. This will be followed by the LA-03 appraisal well (70% commercial chance of success), expected to partially convert Liberator West resources into reserves, then the SA-01 well (72% geological chance of success) into the Serenity prospect that I3E expects will prove a material extension of the neighbouring Tain discovery. No chance of success is stated for the first LPt-02 well, since it is a pilot well which will optimise the placement of the first Liberator Phase 1 production well LP-02, planned to be drilled in 2020. The initial three-well drilling program is expected to take around 90 days. With major news about to become a regular event, but being balanced by the potential sale of 105.5 million placing and converted warrant shares, I3E is going to offer serious trading opportunities over the next few months. UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) is in a similar position with its big Horse H

Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas (ECO) started the week with a bang, announcing a major oil discovery offshore Guyana. ECO shares more than doubled on the news that the Jethro-1 well had encountered 180.5 feet of net high quality pay on the Orinduik block. ECO was stated as a favourite in the blog on 14 July. Hope you were holding. The rig has now moved to drill the Joe prospect and ECO remains funded for at least six additional wells. Currently drilling its North Sea Harvey well, Independent Oil & Gas (IOG) announced the conversion and restructuring of its convertible loans plus a project and funding update. An £88 million bond issue is now contemplated. The final financial structure of IOG will be known early September when it reaches a final investment decision with its farm-in partner and an accurate analysis can then be made. Fully financed, this could have major potential. The next big North Sea drills upcoming are those of I3 Energy (I3E) , who announced that the Borgland

Plenty of interesting news last week.  Providence Resources (PVR) and Lansdowne Oil & Gas (LOGP) announced the receipt of the Barryroe site survey permit, unfortunately the funds from China have still not arrived, so yet another backstop extension was announced too. The financial situation for PVR is now dire. Unless the funds are received on Monday, the company will need to put in place alternative financing arrangements in order to provide it with sufficient working capital beyond the end of August. It's going to be a big week for PVR and LOGP. Anglo African Oil & Gas (AAOG) announced an operational update. They have identified two drilling rigs with slots available this year and are evaluating offers from both companies. News of a rig being contracted would galvanise interest, however, remember that the recent "investors" (Riverfort and YA II) have 109 million shares to sell. For the sake of completeness, the court in the Republic of the Congo has lifted t

It was an exceptionally busy week for small cap oil and gas company news.  Amerisur Resources (AMER)  started by announcing an operations update. Full year production guidance remains 5,000 - 6,000 bopd, which does not include any contribution from exploration drilling. Testing operations on the Sol-1 exploration well are complete and the well is now producing at 253 bopd. This was a modest discovery and AMER now will next drill the Indico-2 appraisal well, which has the potential to transform reserves. In the meantime, a takeover bid of 17p per share has been received from  Maurel & Prom (MAU:Paris) . AMER has rejected this bid and with the shares closing Friday at 18.24p, it appears that a higher offer is expected. MAU confirmed on Friday that it remains a participant in the formal sale process. UK Oil & Gas (UKOG)  and  Alba Mineral Resources (ALBA)  announced a Horse Hill update. Portland connected oil volume accessed by HH-1 has significantly increased from 7 - 11 millio