PetroTal (PTAL) announced a successful $100 million bond issue. It intends to use the proceeds to repay all existing outstanding loans, to finance the continued development of the Bretana oil field, to provide support for crude oil hedging transactions, and to finance potential acquisitions. With this completed, PetroTal can more realistically target its goal of 20,000 bopd production. I mentioned PTAL positively towards the end of last year at 7.6p, after having been rather negative from the low 30s down. It’s now more than doubled to 16.375p.
88 Energy (88E) issued a further operations update. The permit to drill for the Merlin-1 well has been approved, field operations are fully underway, rig commissioning is almost complete with mobilisation imminent and well spud is expected later this month or early next. 88 Energy is not saying anything yet about the second well, Harrier-1, which would probably require another fundraising if it is going to be drilled this season. More on 88E in the private blog.
An interesting announcement from Serinus Energy (SENX) regarding the pricing anomaly in its share price that has arisen between the London and Warsaw markets. While all 1,140,660,629 issued and outstanding shares of the Company are eligible to be traded on AIM, only 78,629,941 of these shares are eligible to be traded on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. It’s important for them to clarify this, since manipulating share prices on a secondary, illiquid foreign exchange and creating a price disparity to encourage buying on the main exchange is a classic form of investor abuse.
On that subject, it appears the chickens may be coming home to roost for David Sefton, the former CEO of Anglo African Oil & Gas (AAOG), a company which, as regular readers know, I was calling out as wrong all the way down from around 20p. It’s now suspended at 0.3p. His nemesis comes in the form of the European High Growth Opportunities Securitization Fund, which has expressed significant concerns about arrangements made by the departed executive directors of Iconic Labs (ICON) with Greencastle Capital, a company established by the former Executive Chairman of Iconic, David Sefton. To quote: “This follows their stewardship of Iconic in which they presided over huge value destruction for shareholders and a collapse in the share price of the company, leaving the company in an almost valueless state with significant debts owed to its creditors. This whole episode raises major questions about their conduct and the conduct of David Sefton, questions which we expect they will now be required to answer, whether in court or by the appropriate regulatory authorities.” You can read all about it at https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210202005931/en/EHGO-expresses-concerns-about-arrangements-made-by-departed-Iconic-Labs-directors-with-Greencastle-Capital
Predator Oil & Gas (PRD) issued an announcement regarding licensing legislation Offshore Ireland and welcomed the renewed commitment by the Irish Government to honour existing licences issued by the State for oil and gas. Predator wants to help promote enabling legislation that facilitates CO2 sequestration, having pioneered CO2 injection in Trinidad and de-risked the larger scale potential. It’s looking at utilising existing oil and gas infrastructure and subsurface oil and gas reservoirs in Ireland. Further on PRD in the private blog.
Lombard Odier responded to one of my tweets concerning Bahamas Petroleum Company (BPC). Regarding their investment into BPC, they say: “We regret this situation and are taking the necessary actions to address it. This investment decision was not aligned to our commitment to sustainability and our strategic investment framework.” I don’t know at which level this was written, but the statement would ring a lot more true if they hadn’t negotiated a very special guaranteed 15% profit arrangement with the company. The drill result here is imminent, but it appears Lombard Odier isn’t too confident.
In other news, Baron Oil (BOIL) and Upland Resources (UPL) issued UK Licence P2478 updates. Essentially, the "Interested Party" ("a large European E&P Company") has walked away (Reabold Resources (RBD) is involved in this licence too). Union Jack Oil (UJO), Egdon Resources (EDR) and Europa Oil & Gas (EOG) announced the commencement of oil flow at the Wressle Field. No numbers yet. United Oil & Gas (UOG) announced a full year 2020 trading update and guidance for full year 2021. Group working interest production in Egypt is forecast to average between 2,300 and 2,500 boepd for the first half of 2021 and group capital expenditure is forecast to be $5.3 million, fully funded from existing operations. UK Oil & Gas (UKOG) announced an update concerning its interim injunction against unlawful protest at Horse Hill. The High Court will be invited to continue the injunction until February 2022. Caspian Sunrise (CASP) announced a commercial, operational and regulatory update. "Commercial, operational and regulatory progress has been limited of late.” Savannah Energy (SAVE) announced a gas sales agreement with Mulak Energy. This is Accugas's first Gas-to-CNG sales agreement and represents Savannah's new entry into the compressed natural gas market. Finally, Cadogan Petroleum (CAD) issued an announcement regarding its controversial loan to Proger Managers & Partners. EUR 14,857,350 is due on 25 February and it’s questionable whether they’ll pay it.
More in the private blog, including my actual trading ideas. Further on that at https://www.oilnewslondon.com/oilman-jim
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The author may hold one or more investments in one or more of the companies mentioned so this post cannot be viewed as independent research. This post does not constitute investment advice or a recommendation to buy or sell and may be incorrect or outdated.