Sunday/Private Blog, 12 February 2023

News from 88E EEENF PANR PTHRF MATD IOG DELT HE1 ANGS ZPHR LBE - Private blog below the line

Catching up on recent news, 88 Energy (88E) announced completion of its placement to raise A$17.5 million (approximately £10.1 million). The company now is fully funded for the drilling cost of the Hickory-1 exploration well and, upon success, a flow test to be carried out during the 2023/24 winter operational season in Alaska. The placing price was 0.55p and the share price closed on Friday at 0.675p, having been as high as 0.85p earlier in the week. More in the private blog below.

88E has been covered three times previously in the private blog as a company of interest: first, at around the 0.7p placing level to finance the Charlie-1 well (the share price subsequently reached a high of 1.48p prior to the spud); second, at around the 0.33p placing level to finance the Merlin-1 well (the share price subsequently reached a high of 4.7p prior to the well result); third, at around the 1.49p placing level to finance the Merlin-2 well (the share price subsequently reached a high of 2.817p prior to the spud). This time, though, it’s left little time between funding and spudding.

Next door neighbour, Pantheon Resources (PANR), also issued news. The rig contracted for the Alkaid #2 clean out operation has successfully pulled the tubing and packer and a coiled tubing unit is commencing a cleanout of the sand blockage. Once completed, the production tubing will be replaced prior to recommencement of long term production testing. The share price firmed up on the news, which is critical for PANR, otherwise it faces having to repay convertible bond holders in cash (which it does not have), or issuing shares in an effective death spiral below the “hard floor” conversion price.

Petro Matad (MATD) announced the result of its retail offer. An additional £500,000 has been raised at 2.5p per share, taking the total in relation to the placing, subscription and retail offer to $6.6 million, enabling the company to test the low-cost, high impact Velociraptor exploration prospect where it says success would be transformational. A firm date for the drilling of Velociraptor-1 is awaited.

IOG (IOG) announced a number of major holding changes. The larger shareholders are disposing of their shares rapidly and the share price is now down over the last year by nearly 90%. Recent operational results have been disappointing. IOG was funded from the London Capital and Finance fraud and the share price was a strong performer through the initial development stage. It now has a feeling, though, that the chickens might be about to come home to roost.

Better news from Deltic Energy (DELT). The company announced a significant gas and oil discovery at Pensacola on Licence P2252 in the Southern North Sea. Pensacola could represent one of the largest natural gas discoveries in the Southern North Sea in over a decade, with pre-drill volumetrics confirmed by the well of a P50 estimated ultimate recovery of 302 billion cubic feet of gas. The Pensacola discovery also opens a new Zechstein play and highlights the remaining potential of the North Sea as a source of further discoveries. DELT was first covered in the private blog as a company of interest at around 1.6p and the share price reached a high of 4.36p prior to the Pensacola spud.

Helium One Global (HE1) announced that CEO, David Minchin, had resigned with immediate effect, to pursue other challenges (the nature of his “other challenges” were not identified) and that Lorna Blaisse, Principal Geologist, had been appointed in his place. HE1 raised £9.9 million at 5p per share in December last year on the expectation that the drilling programme would be commencing this quarter. News a few weeks later was that that the rig operator had amended their contract to allow for an extension of up to 12 months and the company was searching for an alternative rig. 

Finally, in respect of last week’s news, Angus Energy (ANGS) announced a Saltfleetby drilling and operations update. The second compressor remains on track for full wet commissioning from 15 February and the drilling programme is likely to be extended by approximately a further 14 days. Zephyr Energy (ZPHR) announced completion of the Paradox project acquisition, the remaining 25% working interest in the White Sands Unit in the Paradox Basin, Utah. The vendor, Rockies Standard Oil Company, becomes a new shareholder. Longboat Energy (LBE) announced its response to supposed “market speculation.” The company says it is in advanced discussions with a number of parties regarding several opportunities across all phases of the E&P cycle in the South-east Asia region. More on that in the private blog.

And if you want to know how these markets really work, make sure to check out the Core Information page: https://oilman.substack.com/p/core-information

On to the Private Blog