Afren Oil;

Tipped for Greatness, Takeover & Bull runs this year, Afren Oil continued it’s decline the kiss of death came when it was placed on an online “Hotlist” Afren released 3 RNS’s this week. A TR-1 Notification, an Interim Management Statement & news that the Ebok North Fault Block has successfully encountered 370 ft net pay. All to no avail the sp continued to decline in tandem with most smallcap Oilers.

Aminex;

Issued its Interim Management Statement for the period 1 January 2012 to the 16 May 2012. You can read it by clicking the link. http://www.aminex-plc.com/files/120516_IMS_2012_v2.pdf

Cadogan Petroleum;

Published its financial report for 2011 on 30 April 2012. At 17 May 2012 the Group had current cash and cash equivalents of approximately $56.6 million. The Group continues to operate safely and efficiently throughout the period.

Chariot Oil & Gas;

The dreaded words “Plugged & Abandoned” came this week from Chariot, the Africa focused exploration company, has failed to find commercial hydrocarbons in the first well in a drilling programme offshore Namibia. Preliminary logging results from the Tapir South (1811/5-1) exploration well in Northern Block 1811A in the Namibe basin, indicate that excellent reservoirs were penetrated. However, no commercial hydrocarbons were found and the well will be plugged and abandoned.

Empyrean Energy;

Noted that Aurora announced that they have reached agreement to purchase a 6% non-operated working interest in the Sugarloaf Project for US$95m. Aurora is a partner with Empyrean in the Sugarloaf Project in Texas, USA. Empyrean holds a 3% working interest in the same project.

Good News came this week for Enegi Oil;  Who were “delighted to announce” the latest results from testing of the PaP#1-ST#3 well which indicate that the connected oil and gas in place associated with Garden Hill South is in excess of 61.5 million barrels of Stock Tank Oil Initially In Place and 117 BCF Gas Initially In Place, with the Absolute Openhole Flow Potential expected to increase from 310 boepd. Good news? You’d think so. The stock bounced up then hit the buffers; now trending down!

Gran Tierra Energy; the operator of the Azar Block located in the Putumayo Basin, Colombia has informed Gold Oil that the drilling of the La Vega Este -1 well on the block has commenced with the well spudded on 14th May.  The La Vega Este -1 well will be drilled to a depth of 11,485 feet and will target primarily the Villeta formation with the Caballos as a secondary objective.  Gold Oil is currently producing from the Villeta formation in its Nancy Burdine fields. The operator believes the well has a 34% chance of finding oil and could flow at initial rates of between 1,500 and 2,000 bopd if all objectives are oil bearing (300 to 400 bopd net to Gold Oil before royalty payments). The well is expected to take 35 days to drill.  If during drilling the well indicates oil potential it is intended that the well will be completed and tested using a less expensive work over rig. Gold Oil has a 20% interest in the block.

Magnolia Petroleum;

Announced its participation in three further wells in proven onshore oil plays in Oklahoma, as part of its expansion strategy to rapidly build production. Magnolia currently has interests in 74 producing properties. Participating in following three wells: Joan 2-21,Grant County, targeting The Mississippi Lime Formation,(Magnolia 3.75% WI) operated by Tessera Energy. The total cost of the well has been estimated at US$677,700 with the Company’s share estimated at US$25,414. Bollinger 1-27H Horizontal Well, CanadianCounty, targeting theWoodford/Hunton Formation, Oklahoma (Magnolia 1.0% WI) operated by Cimarex. Total drill costs are estimated at US$5.9m with the Company’s share estimated at US$59,000. Sherri#1 Well, Viola/Simpson Formation, Oklahoma (Magnolia 1.4297% WI) operated by Steve Nail who has proposed the re-entry of the Sherri#1 well targeting the Viola and Simpson zones. The total estimated cost for the proposed work is US$218,250 with the Company’s share estimated at US$3,120. Updates on four wells targeting the Mississippi Lime. Thomason 10-27-12 1H, (Magnolia 12.5% WI) has been completed, initial production rates are awaited. Brady 17-27-12 1H, (Magnolia 0.34375% WI) has been completed, initial production rates are awaited. Lois Rust 7-27-12 1H (Magnolia 2.3% WI) has been drilled and is waiting to be fracture stimulated. Redfork 1-25H (Magnolia 1.96% WI) is waiting on spud.

Matra Petroleum;

Continued to surprise investors this week with a bolt from the blue. The independent oil and gas exploration and production Company with operations in Russia, announced that Neil Hodgson, Exploration Director, has confirmed his intention to resign from the Board and to leave the Company. This will become effective on 31 May, 2012.

Max Petroleum;

Informed investors that the ASK-J1 appraisal well in the Asanketken Field has reached a total depth of 1,378 metres with electric logs indicating 36 metres of net oil pay.

Nostra Terra;

Has spudded its third horizontal well in Oklahoma. The first and second horizontal wells have finished drilling and are awaiting completion. The first horizontal well is within the Warrior Prospect and operated by Crown Energy Company. The drilling stage has finished according to plan and it is anticipated that completion will be underway within the coming weeks. Nostra Terra has a 10 percent working interest in this prospect.

Range Resources;

Failed to impress the markets this week as they released a Puntland drilling update which went down like a fit of giggles at a funeral. The company then released an ”Open Briefing interview with Managing Director Peter Landau” in a belated attempt at damage limitation. Too late the damage has been done. Range announced that drilling on the Shabeel-1 well on the Dharoor Block in Puntland, Somalia had reached a total depth of 3,470 meters and encountered metamorphic basement at a depth of 3,430 meters. *Drilling has been suspended for future testing. *Therein lies the problem. No Oil in Place figures & a suspended well. The rig will now move to the Shabeel North location which is 3.5km north of the current location with spudding scheduled for the first week of June 2012.

Wessex Exploration;

The AIM quoted oil and gas explorer with a stake in the discovery of a new basin offshore French Guiana, has released more details about plans for further exploration on the licence. The latest details of plans for the discovery came in a market update from Tullow Oil. It said that following the basin-opening Zaedyus discovery in September 2011, a drillship had been contracted by the joint venture to commence a comprehensive exploration and appraisal programme in June. The first well will appraise the discovery made by Zaedyus-1 and explore for deeper objectives, followed by an exploration wildcat well. Planning is also ongoing to acquire two large 3D seismic surveys; a 4,700 sq km Eastern Slope survey and a 620 sq km Cebus survey either side of the Cingulata fan system containing Zaedyus and other mapped turbidite fans.

One of Britain’s leading high street banks has been downgraded by the ratings agency Moody’s. Santander UK, which has more than 25 million customers and more than 1,400 branches had its credit rating downgraded together with 16 Spanish banks. The agency said that the Spanish government’s ability to provide support to the institutions had been reduced. In cutting the long-term debt and deposit ratings by “one to three notches”, Moody’s cited Spain’s soaring unemployment, which stands at 24%, the possibility that property loans will not be repaid in full and concerns that the banks may find it more difficult to raise money in the market due to the debt crisis, according to The Telegraph.

Hewlett-Packard is reported to be planning cuts of up to 25,000 jobs, as the world’s largest PC maker grapples with declining demand. Some cuts being considered will come from HP’s information services business, according to Bloomberg. Meg Whitman, the former boss of eBay who took over as HP’s chief executive last September, faces the challenge of finding new sources of revenue for HP as consumers increasingly favour tablet devices such as the iPad over the traditional desktop computers that HP built its fortune on. Besides lifting revenues at the Californian company, Ms Whitman is also under pressure from Wall Street to cut costs at the company, which employs more than 300,000 people globally, The Telegraph says.

Commercial property developers are backing David Cameron’s call to get Britain building again, according to a new report. The construction of new offices in London has increased by 44% compared with last year, aided by lower build costs, and is now three times greater than its lowest level three years ago. The rise in construction has been identified in the latest crane survey by property services group Drivers Jonas Deloitte, which measures the amount of space under construction through the number of cranes on the skyline. The Coalition sees construction and investment in infrastructure as a key path to economic growth for the UK, The Telegraph reports.

HSBC has raised the prospect of selling its British high street banking operation if new regulations prove too demanding. Stuart Gulliver, chief executive of the global banking group, told City analysts yesterday that the British retail bank would have to meet strict internal targets when the new rules came in — and if it did not, it would be sold.The warning banks in Britain, with 16 million customers, 50,000 staff and and 1,240 branches, coming under new ownership. Severing ties with its British retail banking operation would also give HSBC another reason to relocate its head office away from Britain, an option it is already considering because of the cost of the bank levy, writes The Times.

David Cameron has told Europe’s power brokers to take “decisive action” to save the euro or risk a messy break-up that threatens livelihoods across the continent. The Prime Minister used a video conference call to tell Angela Merkel that Germany must do more — and quickly — to stop the single currency unravelling. Mr Cameron’s lecture on the woes of the eurozone risks souring relations as world leaders gather today at Camp David outside Washington for the annual G8 summit of world leaders. But he insisted that, with Britain’s economy in the firing line if the eurozone splintered, he had to put aside diplomatic niceties and speak out, according to The Times.

Homeowners will be hit by fresh increases in mortgage rates as the storm in the Eurozone hammers Britain’s financial system. The Bank of England has warned of an extended squeeze on household incomes, saying that the worsening Eurozone crisis had made it more expensive for banks to raise money and that UK borrowers could suffer from higher interest rates as a result. In extraordinarily blunt words, Sir Mervyn King, the Bank Governor, said that Britain had been forced to put in place contingency plans as the Eurozone was showing signs of “tearing itself apart”. His stark outlook came as recriminations flew across Europe, with David Cameron discarding normal diplomacy to concede for the first time that the Eurozone could well splinter, The Times reports.

The rupee hit a record low against the dollar yesterday, as India’s Finance Minister warned that austerity would be needed to reduce widening fiscal and current account deficits. “We are going to issue some austerity measures,” Pranab Mukherjee told parliament, shortly before the rupee slipped to 54.52 per dollar, its weakest level on record. “The Indian growth story has not ended,” he added. “I have confidence in India’s workers, farmers, in its political system.” The rupee has shed more than 20% of its value against the dollar over the past 12 months, compounding the challenges faced by Asia’s third-biggest economy by pushing up the cost of imported essentials, particularly oil, according to The Times.

General Motors will deliver a significant economic boost to the UK on Thursday by announcing that it is keeping its Ellesmere Port factory and saving 2,100 jobs – if workers vote in favour of a new pay deal. Workers at the Vauxhall plant in Merseyside voted on Wednesday on proposals to change their working conditions, which are thought to include round-the-clock manufacturing, weekend working, and more staff. If the proposals are passed then GM is scheduled to hold a press conference this morning to confirm that it will pour millions of pounds of new investment into the plant and end months of uncertainty about its future. There have been major fears that the Ellesmere Port plant could close because GM is looking to cut capacity in Europe to stem years of losses, The Telegraph says.

Prudential may move its head office out of Europe because of new rules on how much cash it must hold in reserve, the insurer warned yesterday, as it unveiled a better-than-expected 9% rise in first-quarter sales.The London-based group is concerned the regime, known as Solvency II, could make its American business less competitive than local rivals, because it would have to hold more capital reserves to comply with the European directive. Prudential chief executive Tidjane Thiam said that, if the group did not win concessions, it would possibly move to Asia, where new business profits soared 22% to £260m in the first quarter, The Scotsman reports.

Greek citizens are withdrawing deposits from domestic banks at an increasing rate as fears grow that the country faces a rapid devaluation if it leaves the Eurozone. Investors pulled out €700m from Greek banks on Monday, and the same figure again yesterday. President Karolos Papoulias told political leaders that ‘fear that could develop into panic’ at the ailing country’s banks, weeks before the fresh elections which could spell the nation’s exit from the single currency. Greeks have been gradually withdrawing their savings over the past two years as the country’s financial crisis deepened, either sending the money abroad or keeping it in their homes, The Daily Mail says.

David Cameron is considering ordering billions of pounds in extra welfare cuts proposed in a confidential Downing Street policy paper, The Daily Telegraph can disclose. The plans include a new crackdown on housing benefit and a “mark two” system of universal credit to help push people off benefits back into full-time, rather than part-time, work. There are also understood to be a range of measures to encourage more women, particularly single mothers, to return to work. The proposals have been drawn up in a policy paper for the Prime Minister presented by Steve Hilton, the outgoing Number Ten director of implementation, and Iain Duncan Smith, the Work and Pensions Secretary, The Telegraph reports.

Manufacturers have delivered a withering judgment on the Government’s industrial policy, accusing the coalition of empty rhetoric that has delivered stagnating economic growth. According to one of the largest studies of Britain’s engineers and manufacturers, an overwhelming majority believe that the Government is not delivering the right policies to support industry. In the survey of 1,500 employers by the consultancy BDO, only 26% believe the coalition is adopting the right strategies to support and develop UK manufacturing. Half of manufacturers do not anticipate the sector increasing its share of GDP, nor are they confident that it will have become a core part of the economy in ten years’ time, The Times reports.

AstraZeneca is understood to be considering a potential $4bn bid for an American maker of diabetes medicines. The Anglo-Swedish drug group is believed to be among a number of the world’s largest pharmaceuticals companies to have requested financial information on Amylin Pharmaceuticals. Amylin, which is based in San Diego, makes the diabetes drugs Bydureon and Byetta, has a market value of more than $4bn (£2.5bn) and generated $650m of sales last year. It appointed Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs to assess takeover interest this year and first-round bids are understood to be due in the next two weeks. The American companies Pfizer, Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck are said to be interested, as are Sanofi of France, the Japanese group Takeda and Roche of Switzerland, says The Times.

A Greek exit from the euro could be a moneyspinner for G4S, which is eyeing the prospect of an elaborate security operation if millions of drachma notes and coins have to be rushed into circulation. Its chief executive Nick Buckles said yesterday that Greece was the company’s fastest-growing cash-handling market in Europe as economic uncertainty encourages businesses to keep money at hand. “Our biggest contingency issue would arise if the country were to leave the euro and go back to the drachma, because basically we would be involved in the whole swap-out of the currency,” Mr Buckles said, The Times says.

JP Morgan’s Jamie Dimon was hit with a fresh blow on Tuesday after the Federal Bureau of Investigation launched a criminal investigation into the bank’s $2bn (£1.2bn) trading loss that has stunned Wall Street. The FBI and the US Department of Justice are examining whether there was any criminal wrongdoing in losses that have damaged the reputation that JP Morgan and Mr Dimon have built for risk management. America’s largest bank by assets has been battling to contain the fallout from the losses, which Mr Dimon described as “self-inflicted”. Yesterday, at the bank’s annual shareholder meeting in Tampa, Florida, the banker admitted: “It should never have happened. I can’t justify it,” writes The Telegraph.

Pension fund chiefs have warned the Government against striking a ‘sweetheart’ deal with Middle East investors over the sale of Royal Bank of Scotland and Lloyds. The damning verdict – delivered to MPs yesterday by investment bosses at Standard Life, Schroders and Royal London – undermines one of the Government’s key strategies designed to return the state-backed banks to the private sector. Treasury officials have been working urgently behind the scenes to sell part of taxpayers’ 82% stake in RBS to Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth funds at a loss, The Daily Mail holds.

Panicky investors have lost faith in highly-paid City stock pickers and are bailing out of shares amid the current economic turmoil. A Money Mail investigation has revealed how desperate High Street investors have finally lost faith with professional fund managers who have consistently failed to deliver the goods. And many ordinary savers are quitting funds that hold stocks and shares from some of Britain’s biggest companies for supposedly safer bonds and gilts. The FTSE has yo-yoed wildly in the past ten days following political and economic upheaval in Europe, driven by fears that Greece is ready to quit the euro and other countries such as Spain may also be in worse health than believed. The flight from shares has already begun to show up heavily on fund flows compiled by the Investment Management Association.

I spoke to Dr Hodgson this afternoon & expressed my disbelief. This is the man widely held responsible for discovering the Sokolovskoe field. Indeed Dr Hodgson’s career is peppered with exploration success’ which may go some way as to understanding why he has decided to move to pastures new.

Neil feels that he is leaving Matra in very good shape. So much so that he believes that “Matra will be mega under Barskiy & Hind”  The whole emphasis of the company has changed from exploration to development and herein may lie the key to why Neil may have decided to move on.

Dr Hodgson is a hands on get your fingers dirty geologist who loves nothing better than being in the field at the forefront of exploration. Matra’s way forward is seen by many as now changing from exploration to developement. The whisper from our contacts is that after 6 years Neil may have succumbed to one of the many lucrative offers to go back into the field to develop a new seismic/geological model for an unnamed Norwegian company.  I did put this to Neil and as ever he refused to comment. (Typical Dr Hodgson a man of huge integrity second to none.) As I understand it Dr Hodgson has received many offers during his 6 year Matra stewardship so it’s to be expected that we should hear of an appointment after May 31 this year.

I’d like to take this opportunity on behalf of our Members in thanking Neil Hodgson for his sterling work on behalf of share-holders. On a personal note I’d like to express my thanks to Neil for each & every telephone call & email that he took the time to answer. He never ducked any call or email. A man of huge integrity, ability & respected by his industry peers, who was always willing to listen & debate points with me. It just won’t be the same without him. One of our finest moments was to get Neil to write an article on exploration. Neil was in-fact Jackson Black! http://brokermandaniel.com/2010/11/15/jackson-black-our-man-in-havana/

On behalf of our Members (741) I’d like to wish Dr Neil Hodgson all the very best for the future.

BMD MEMBERS.

Britain’s borrowing costs fell to their lowest level since records began, as investors dashed for the safety of gilts in the midst of heavy stock market falls. Renewed fears of an imminent Greek exit from the euro sent stock markets across Europe tumbling, as the region’s debt crisis entered a dangerous new phase. With stock markets tumbling in every European capital, the interest rate on UK gilts, perceived as a relative safe haven from Eurozone chaos, fell to 1.87 per cent, The Daily Mail reports.

One of Britain’s largest energy suppliers has tried to win over consumers by promising not to raise bills this year, despite rising wholesale prices. The German-owned E.ON claimed that its pledge to keep its average annual bill at a near-record £1,223 would provide “peace of mind” for its five million customers. The move comes after the warning on Friday by Centrica, parent company of British Gas, that annual bills for its customers were likely to rise by £100 this year. The country’s biggest supplier blamed higher wholesale prices and other costs. No other member of the so-called Big Six — which also include EDF Energy, RWE npower, SSE and ScottishPower — has made a similar pledge, The Times reports.

Oil prices could double over the next decade with sweeping implications for the global economy, according to a report commissioned by the International Monetary Fund. As oil prices remain at historically high levels of around $110 (£68) a barrel, the working paper warned a combination of rising demand and constrained supply could have major consequences. “Our prediction of small further increases in world oil production comes at the expense of a near doubling, permanently, of real oil prices over the coming decade,” the report’s authors concluded. “This is uncharted territory for the world economy, which has never experienced such prices for more than a few months.” They said that research suggested energy accounted for up to 50% of overall gross domestic product, meaning “the implications of lower oil output growth for GDP could be very large.” Persistently high oil prices are already threatening the global economic recovery according to a director of the International Energy Agency, The Telegraph reports.

George Osborne accused Angela Merkel of damaging Britain’s economic interests after she speculated that Greece would leave the euro. Speaking after he arrived in Brussels for meetings with other European finance ministers about the worsening Eurozone crisis, Mr Osborne implied that the German chancellor was destabilising the global economy. “The Eurozone crisis is very serious and it’s having a real impact on economic growth across the European continent, including in Britain, and it’s the uncertainty that’s causing the damage,” said Mr Osborne, the Chancellor, according to The Telegraph.

British businesses face a £100bn drain on their finances over the next three years as they top up ailing final salary pension schemes, according to new research. The cost of plugging soaring pension deficits threatens to eat up as much 13pc of companies’ total £750bn of cash balances, diverting money away from vital investment in jobs and growth, Pension Corporation warned. The extra funding is needed despite £80bn of deficit reduction payments made by business in the past three years. The Bank of England’s £325bn quantitative easing (QE) program has been blamed for causing the shortfall, by forcing down gilt yields and making it more expensive to buy annuities. Pension Corporation has estimated that QE added as much as £74bn to pension deficits, The Telegraph reports.

Plus Markets, the British stock exchange for small companies, said it planned to shut itself down after failing to attract an acceptable takeover offer. The loss-making group, which put itself up for sale in February, has informed Britain’s financial regulator that it plans an “orderly closure” after suffering a drop in its cash reserves, it said on Monday. “The regulated actives of the group will be wound down over a period of up to six months in order to minimise market disruption,” the company said in a statement. Plus Markets said it would help the companies whose shares are traded on its exchange, including football club Arsenal and brewer Shepherd Neame, find “suitable alternative arrangements,” The Telegraph says.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel suffered an electoral setback yesterday as opposition to European austerity measures spread across the continent. The German chancellor may be tempted to rethink her approach after her allies in the country’s largest state, North Rhine-Westphalia, lost 9 per cent of the vote in their worst showing since the Second World War. The result left her in a weaker position for her first meeting tomorrow with François Hollande, the socialist president-elect of France, who has demanded that the EU adopt higher-spending policies to battle the recession, The Telegraph reports.

A “massive” economic impact awaits Britain should the Eurozone fail to contain the turmoil sweeping the Continent, Vince Cable warned yesterday. In the bleakest prediction of the UK’s economic vulnerability to date by a senior minister, the Business Secretary said that there was little Britain could do apart from hope the Eurozone’s economic firewalls were strong enough to stop Greece’s problems from spreading. His intervention came as the fate of the single currency hung in the balance. Greek coalition talks appeared close to collapse last night, more than a week after the country’s inconclusive general election, according to The Telegraph.

Thomas Cook warned its shareholders this weekend that their failure to back two disposals could lead to the firm going into administration. The tour operator has posted documents to shareholders in which it explains the financial importance of the sale and leaseback of part of its aircraft fleet and the disposal of five Spanish hotels. Thomas Cook said its directors were confident that shareholders will deliver the required majority when they vote on the disposals at a general meeting in London on 29 May. Failure to support the fundraising move would jeopardise the company’s £1.4bn deal with lenders, including Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland, to extend the maturity of its bank loans to 2015. That agreement has been hailed as a key step in strengthening confidence in the holidays firm, which blamed a “number of exceptional external shocks” since 2010 for poor trading, The Scotsman reports.

Half a million people are set to lose disability benefits as the Government pushes ahead with plans to rid the system of abuse and fraud, Iain Duncan Smith says. In an interview with today’s Daily Telegraph, the Work and Pensions Secretary says that he is determined to introduce radical reforms to disability benefits which will see more than two million claimants reassessed in the next four years. Iain Duncan Smith says that the number of claimants has risen by 30% in recent years “rising well ahead of any other gauge you might make about illness, sickness, disability”. Losing a limb should not automatically entitle people to a pay-out, he suggests.

More than 60,000 frontline jobs in the NHS, including those of nurses, are at risk of being axed because of spending cuts, with almost half already gone, according to “stark” figures revealed in a new study. The Royal College of Nursing (RCN) said community nurses were among those facing cuts, which meant that government plans to move care from acute hospitals to community sites were a “façade”. The RCN said 61,000 posts were at risk of being cut across the UK, including nursing and other jobs, with 26,000 already lost in the two years to April, The Scotsman says.

Britain’s business leaders will warn David Cameron that the Government’s attitude to business must change, after they were told to stop complaining. Members of the Prime Minister’s business advisory group will say that the atmosphere surrounding business in the UK is becoming increasingly “toxic”. Mr Cameron’s face-off with the chief executives of major companies, including Sainsbury’s, Centrica and the Prudential, comes at a time when relations between the private sector and the Government are under strain, The Telegraph says.

Germany has drawn up plans to make Britain pay a share of the multi-billion pound clean-up costs if Greece is ejected from the euro, risking a clash with Downing Street. A finance ministry draft shows that Berlin is preparing a fresh bail-out to stabilise the Greek economy and stem EMU-wide contagion after a return to the drachma, should the country reject EU austerity demands. The funds would come from Europe’s rescue machinery but costs would be shared among all 27 EU members – not just the Eurozone – on the grounds that Greece has a right to Brussels crisis funds, like any other member state with its own currency. The scheme aims to contain fallout from a Greek exit and “limit the losses of the European Central Bank” on the country’s bonds, The Telegraph says.

Eurozone central bankers have talked publicly for the first time of managing a possible Greek exit from Europe’s monetary union as stalemate in Athens talks on a coalition government raises the prospect that Greece will renege on the terms of its international bailout. The comments by members of the European Central Bank’s governing council indicate that the risk of Eurozone fragmentation is being taken increasingly seriously by the region’s policymakers. They mark a significant shift at the ECB, which has previously argued that European treaties do not allow for an exit and that a break-up would cause incalculable economic damage, writes The Financial Times.

Caza Oil & Gas;

Began drilling work on a new well in New Mexico following an acreage swap deal involving the Bradley 29 Prospect in Eddy County. Caza recently completed the acreage swap with Mewbourne Oil Company, whereby Caza exchanged acreage in its Lynch Property in Lea County, New Mexico, for a position in Mewbourne’s Bradley 29 and Two Mesas Properties in Eddy County. The trade covered the Bone Spring formation only, and sets up twelve horizontal Bone Spring locations to be drilled in 2012 and 2013. Under the trade, it was agreed that Mewbourne, one of the foremost operators in the Bone Spring play, would operate the wells.

Desire Petroleum;

Provided an update on the economic assessment of the contingent resources established by the 14/15-4a discovery this week. These are based on a high-level development concept and economic review by Senergy (GB) Limited. Desire share of Sea Lion (unrisked) at $85/bbl (NPV 10%) is estimated at $173 million….Assuming Desire share of Sea Lion unit is 4%….Assuming 320 MMstb full-field case….Desire share of adjacent discoveries (unrisked) at 85$/bbl (NPV 10%) is estimated at $727 million….Assuming Casper and Casper South (Shona) development….Based on net Desire 2C resources from Senergy April 2012 CPR update….Desire is currently evaluating the new 3D seismic data and when this is complete later in the year, a full CPR update will be published based on all prospects and discoveries.  Initial indications for new prospectivity in the East Flank play fairway are encouraging, with confirmation of the potential of the Elaine fan and a major new fan system identified (Isobel).  This confirms our view that there remains significant exploration potential in the basin. A technical and financial update presentation is available on the website on www.desireplc.co.uk.

Gulf Keystone Petroleum;

Came out fighting this week in the wake of malicious bulletin Board bashing. The £1.6bn oil and gas group operating in Iraq and Algeria, has been forced to respond to what it described as “continued and unfounded speculation on various bulletin boards and other social media sites regarding an alleged planned placing of the company’s shares at 160p per share.” (And we all know who they are!) The company conceded that while it did not normally comment on “unfounded speculation” it had been compelled to act on the “damaging and misleading nature of these various comments which have been posted on bulletin boards and other social media sites during the past 24 hours”. Gulf Keystone confirmed categorically that it had no current intention of undertaking an institutional fundraising. GKP also confirmed that the process regarding the sale of its 20% stake in the Akri-Bijeel block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, was continuing and negotiations were ongoing with several interested bidders. GKP is understood to be taking legal advice with regard the speculation and warned that it would be taking all available legal action to prevent further repetition of similar speculative comments on bulletin boards and other social media sites. Todd Kozel, Gulf keystone’s executive chairman and chief executive, said: “We are working hard to create shareholder value via the continuing 2012/2013 exploration and appraisal programme on our world-class assets in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq. We will not tolerate malicious attempts to damage the company’s reputation and share price. We have instructed the company’s lawyers to use all means necessary to protect our shareholders from this malicious and unfounded attack.” Well done Todd unmask them! Gulf Keystone also announced today that the Bakrman-1 exploration well spudded on the Akri-Bijeel block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on 7 May 2012. Bakrman-1, the third exploration well to be drilled on the Akri-Bijeel block, is located 32 km to the north-west of the Bijell-1 discovery well and 25 km to the north-west of the Aqra-1 appraisal well, which is currently being drilled to appraise the Bijell discovery.

Matra Petroleum;

The oil and gas exploration and production company with operations in Russia, said this week that production had started from Well A-13 on its Sokolovskoe oil field in Orenburg. Matra said that on 26 March, production of naturally flowing oil had commenced from Well A-13 and, as planned and following the end of the thaw season in Orenburg, a workover rig had now completed the installation of a downhole electrical submersible pump (ESP) in that well. The ESP is currently being commissioned on site. Once it is commissioned, the well will be cleaned up but Matra said it was likely to take some days before stable production rates could be achieved. Yesterday that James William Guest, Non-Executive Director, bought 555,555 ordinary shares of 0.1 pence each in the share capital of Matra at a price of 2.664p per share. Following this transaction, Mr Guest now holds 555,555 Ordinary Shares.

Mediterranean Oil & Gas;

Announced that the Italian Ministry for Economic Development has granted a three-year extension until 5 May 2015 to the exploration permit BR269 GC, held by the Company’s subsidiary Medoilgas Italia SpA. The Ombrina Mare oil and gas field is located in permit BR269 GC, which is offshore Central Adriatic.

Nostra Terra;

It’s a case of De Ja Vu as Matt Lofgran announces that they have entered into “another” loan facility of up to US $3 million, with YA Global Master SPV Ltd , an investment fund managed by Yorkville Advisors LLC. Still NO word from the company on their BOPD.

Oilex;

Bad news for Oilex THIS WEEK THE SP SANK LIKE A STONE. As previously announced, Oilex has been conducting operations to recover and replace damaged drill pipe and recovering milling assemblies from down hole. During these operations while attempting to pull out of the well with the milling assembly the drill pipe has parted on three separate occasions at 282 metres (corrected from 600 metres as previously reported), 2,294 metres and, most recently, at 977 metres. Prior to the last run in hole, the drill pipe was inspected at site in accordance with American Petroleum Institute Guidelines using non-destructive testing techniques and the drill pipe that was last run in hole was therefore understood to have good integrity. However, the latest failure at 977 metres brings into question the fundamental condition of the drill pipe. As a direct consequence of the apparently poor integrity of the drill pipe and the potentially adverse consequences of continuing to use this equipment, the Joint Venture has decided to suspend operations until a better understanding is reached and the condition of the well bore is reviewed. An investigation including laboratory testing of drill pipe material is being undertaken to determine the cause of these failures.

President Petroleum;

Announced the successful testing and immediate placement on commercial production of Well DP 1001 at the Dos Puntitas field, Puesto Guardian concession, Argentina (President 50% working interest). This is the first new well of President to be commissioned as a producer since its July 2011 purchase of its interest at Puesto Guardian.  The oil will be sold through existing arrangements, where President and its partner are receiving approximately US$ 72 per barrel, as compared to the US$ 56 per barrel received in July 2011. These drilling and test results support President’s group production target of 1300-1500 bopd around end Q3 2012.

Providence Resources;

The Irish oil and gas exploration and production company, said today that new seismic data had revealed a significant reservoir potential on the Barryroe oil discovery in the North Celtic Sea Basin, offshore Ireland.

Range Resources;

It’s all going wrong for RRL as the company share-price continued its plummet to earth. A strategic review of the current operations in Georgia HAS NOW BEEN ANNOUNCED. The Company, along with its partners, Strait Oil & Gas and Red Emperor Resources, is to embark on a revised exploration and appraisal strategy for Blocks VIa and VIb in Georgia RE’ Appraisal of Coal Bed Methane Potential. Yes but what about the oil? IT DOESN’T LOOK HEALTHY HERE.

Serica Energy;

An oil and gas exploration and production company, today announced its financial results for the three months ended 31 March 2012.  The results and associated Management Discussion and Analysis copies are available at www.serica-energy.com

Silvermere Energy;

Further to the announcement made on 3 May 2012, Laredo’s yard in Galveston which is contracted by Dominion, has advised that an alternative lift-boat from within its own fleet has now been secured. The replacement lift-boat is expected to come off its existing contract in about 30 days and then to complete the piling and installation of the platform at Mustang Island for the re-entry of the I-1 well.

Sound Oil;

Has formally applied to the Italian authorities for the San Lorenzo Production Concession, with the target to develop and produce the Casa Tiberi gas discovery. The proposed development plan contemplates an initial gas production phase followed by the generation of electricity for the local network. Once awarded the first phase of development requires the fast-track installation of a processing plant which will utilise a number of the Marciano production facilities. The gas will be exported to the local grid network with a connection to the low pressure (4 bar) flowline located close to the site. Overall the phased development is designed to maximise the recovery of gas reserves.

And finally Xcite Energy announced that drilling of the 9/3b-7 well on the Bentley field is progressing satisfactorily, having reached a total depth of 6684ft. (Yes but what about the ailing sp?) The 17½” section has been drilled, 13⅜”casing set, cemented and pressure tested. The 12¼” hole has been drilled. After the 10¾” x 9⅝” liner has been set, cemented and pressure tested, drilling to the reservoir section will follow. Following the announcement on 14 December 2011, the Company’s 100% subsidiary, Xcite Energy Resources Limited, has now signed a time charter contract with Teekay Navion Offshore Loading Pte.  for the provision of the dynamically positioned “Scott Spirit” shuttle tanker vessel. The Scott Spirit is planned to be used as the in-field storage and offtake facility for Bentley crude oil during the Phase 1A of the Bentley field development programme now being undertaken. XER has also now concluded a contract with Ocean Installer AS for the installation of the oil export pipeline of 1.8 km between the Rowan Norway jack-up rig and the Scott Spirit.  The load out on the installation vessel “Polar Prince” is currently taking place in Peterhead in preparation for the work programme

The Eurozone has lost a crucial lifeline as China’s biggest sovereign wealth fund said it no longer wanted to buy European government debt. Amid resurgent political and financial crisis in Spain and Greece, Gao Ziqing, head of the China Investment Corporation (CIC), said the $440bn (£273bn) fund was “looking at opportunities in Europe” but added: “We don’t want to buy any government bonds.” Eurozone leaders have tried to attract investors from Asia to help mop up excess sovereign debt. Both China and Japan have been supportive in the past, in part because Europe is one of their biggest export markets. The retreat by China came amid political deadlock in Greece, the bank crisis in Spain and signs of a deepening economic recession, according to The Telegraph.

Militant shareholders staged their biggest pay rebellion of the “shareholder” spring yesterday as investors in Britain’s largest car dealer comprehensively rejected controversial bonus deals. Investors speaking for more than 67% of Pendragon’s voting shares opposed the group’s remuneration report. A contrite chairman Mike Davies, who is also chairman of Royal Mint, promised to amend the offending changes to its executive pay schemes. The issue that most irked investors was the near-£1 million paid to Trevor Finn, the chief executive, including a £232,000 bonus for overseeing last year’s rescue rights issue and refinancing. Despite the revolt, The Times understands that Mr Finn has no intention of repaying the bonus.

The number of home repossessions is “stable”, breaking a recent trend of year-on-year increases, lenders said yesterday. There were 9,600 repossessions in the first three months of the year, the same number as in the same period in 2011, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. The new figure is a 10 per cent increase on the fourth quarter of 2011 but the CML said that this represents a normal seasonal pattern. Its previous prediction that repossessions would rise to 45,000 this year may be revised down later this summer when it publishes its housing market forecasts, it said. However, it cautioned that pressures on household finances, cuts to welfare benefits and an “upward drift” in mortgage rates all have the potential to disrupt the current picture, The Times says.

Homeowners were last month hit with the biggest rise in mortgage costs in almost three years despite interest rates remaining at a record low, according to Bank of England figures. Borrowers taking out two-year fixed rate deals, one of the most popular on the market, saw their average offer increase from 3.44% in March to 3.65% in April. It was the sharpest monthly rise since June 2009, and the seventh consecutive increase. As recently as September, a two-year fixed rate cost just 2.92%. According to Defaqto, a financial research company, two-year fixed mortgages now account for 30% of all current offers compared with 20% in 2007. With annual gross mortgage lending running at around £150bn, the rising costs may be affecting more than £30bn of lending, The Telegraph reports.

Tens of thousands of public sector workers are due to go on strike and march the streets on Thursday as they escalate their bitter dispute over pensions, pay and jobs. Up to 400,000 workers including off-duty police officers, immigration staff and lecturers are set be involved in a wave of demonstrations throughout the country. Civil servants, health workers, Ministry of Defence staff, and members of the Royal Fleet Auxiliary will also be among those joining strikes and other forms of protest. Picket lines will be mounted outside jobcentres, courts, at airports including Heathrow, Parliament and other Government buildings across Britain, The Telegraph says.

The Bank of England is expected to call time on the latest round of quantitative easing on Thursday following signs that inflation is proving more “sticky” than expected. The second round of QE has been completed and on Thursday the Bank has to decide whether to extend it again or to leave the total £325bn program unchanged. Most economists reckon the Bank will keep its powder dry after inflation surprisingly rose in March to 3.5%, making it less likely that the consumer price index will drop back to the 2% target this year. Barclays Capital warned that inflation would prove “sticky” and that “the recent failure of inflation to fall as much as expected is indicative of a deep-seated persistence”. The bank expects inflation to remain above 2% until the third quarter of 2014 and to remain above 3% through this year. It has pencilled in a first rate rise of half a point in the third quarter of 2013, according to The Telegraph.

Rank Group is poised to agree the acquisition of Gala Casinos for about £200m — only six weeks after previous talks fell apart with each side blaming the other. The Times understands that, despite the acrimonious breakdown of the discussions, Rank and Gala Coral Group quickly returned to the negotiating table. Analysts said there had been two main sticking points first time around — Gala Casinos’ pension liability and property-related issues over casinos no longer owned by Gala. Solutions to both appear to have been agreed. The purchase, which is unlikely to be announced by Rank alongside a scheduled trading update today, would add Gala’s 24 casinos to its existing estate of 35 clubs, allowing it to leapfrog Genting UK to become Britain’s biggest casino operator.

Andrew Moss missed out on bonuses worth £2.4m after his unceremonious exit as Aviva’s chief executive, it emerged last night. Mr Moss, who resigned from the insurer with a payout worth £1.5m, was denied deferred shares from two bonus schemes by Aviva’s remuneration committee. As a result of his resignation, Mr Moss was deemed by the committee not to be a “good leaver” and it exercised its right to withhold the share payments. The committee’s decision appeared last night to have headed off an investor revolt over the terms of Mr Moss’s departure, The Times reports.

Legions of savers are being trapped on pathetic rates after falling prey to banks and building societies desperate to hold on to their cash. Millions of pounds has been left languishing on these poor deals with savers unable to touch their cash for up to four months because of the terms of the account. Banks and building societies are desperate for savers’ cash to fill their coffers. Other sources of funding — such as using the investment money markets — have dried up, and rule changes are forcing banks to back up the loans they make with more of savers’ money, The Daily Mail writes.