Sunday/Private Blog, 19 February 2023

IOG MATD ANGS ZPHR HE1 LBE PANR PTHRF BOIL UPL RBD + Private blog (paywall)

Catching up on last week’s news, IOG (IOG) announced an operational update. The IOG-CalEnergy Resources joint venture has sanctioned the Blythe H2 well and prioritised it ahead of Southwark A1. H2 is a lower risk well and in a success case would deliver higher gas production rates, expected to be initially in the order of 30-40 million cubic feet of gas per day. H2 is expected to spud in March and take approximately three months to drill, complete and hook up. Potential payback is under 3 months. Meanwhile, Blythe continues to produce from the H1 well with gross gas rates in the 15-20 million cubic feet of gas per day range.

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Petro Matad (MATD) announced an operational update. Progress is being made to register the Block XX exploitation area as special purpose land, exploration drilling on the Velociraptor prospect is scheduled for the second quarter of this year, an application has been submitted for a new block in Mongolia's 2023 exploration tender round with plans for more during the year and a joint venture has been established with a renewable energy project developer to pursue opportunities in Mongolia's renewables sector. The company recently closed an equity fundraise totalling $6.6 million, enabling the company to test the Velociraptor exploration prospect, where it says success would be transformational.

Angus Energy (ANGS) announced the success of its Balcombe planning appeal. The Company is now capable of pursing the well test subject to satisfaction of planning conditions and the determination of the variation to the environmental permit by the Environment Agency, which is understood to be imminent. Meanwhile, at Saltfleetby, drilling news is awaited.

Zephyr Energy (ZPHR) announced a State 36-2 LNW-CC well update, plus fourth quarter and full year 2022 results from its Williston Basin portfolio. Operations at the State 36-2 LNW-CC to run 7-inch production casing were successful and the well has now been made fully safe. Subject to service availability, the company plans to commence production testing and potential completion of the fractured Cane Creek reservoir interval in the coming weeks. In North Dakota, the Williston Basin portfolio has seen year-on-year revenue growth in excess of 600% and year-on-year production growth of over 500%. 2023 production is forecast to be 1,550 to 1,750 barrels of oil equivalent per day, net to the company.

Helium One Global (HE1) announced a 2023 AGM and CEO update. Following the previous week’s news that CEO, David Minchin, had resigned with immediate effect and Lorna Blaisse, principal geologist, had been appointed in his place, the company reported that it has updated the operational outlook using current information based on ongoing negotiations with rig providers, which indicates a planned drilling programme at Rukwa commencing in the third quarter of this year.

Longboat Energy (LBE) announced a Norwegian portfolio update and a new country entry. The company says it is actively pursuing monetisation options, a process which has attracted significant interest, and anticipates being able to provide the market with a further update during the first quarter of this year. Meanwhile, the rig is booked for the Velocette exploration well, which is expected to spud in the third quarter of this year and is targeting a large gas prospect with gross mean volumes of 177 million barrels of oil equivalent. The company also is working to confirm up to two additional wells for its 2024 drilling programme alongside the firm well commitment on the Lotus prospect, which is expected to be drilled in the second half of next year. In Malaysia, Longboat has been awarded a production sharing contract for Block 2A, a large exploration block offshore Sarawak with material gas resource potential. A number of large prospects across multiple plays have been identified. The main prospect is a large anticlinal structure called Kertang with significant volume potential representing multiple trillions of cubic feet of gas.

Pantheon Resources (PANR) announced an Alkaid #2 update. The clean out of the sand blockage is now complete and the well is being connected to the production facility in preparation for the resumption of long term production testing operations. The facility will now run on power generated with produced gas. The share price was down again on the week, which is troubling for the company. A stronger share price 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.

Baron Oil (BOIL), Upland Resources (UPL) and Reabold Resources (RBD) announced a competent person's report on UK Licence P2478, known as Dunrobin. Aggregate gross unrisked Pmean prospective resources are stated as 201 million barrels of oil equivalent, with the Dunrobin West prospect estimated to contain 119 million barrels of oil equivalent. The report states a 34% geological probability of success for the Dunrobin West Jurassic primary target with an estimated 71 million barrels of oil equivalent gross of Pmean prospective resources. Dunrobin West is said to be geologically analogous to the Beatrice field, which produced in excess of 140 million barrels of oil equivalent. Next up for BOIL is the competent person's report for Chuditch, which the company anticipates will assign a contingent resources number to the Chuditch-1 gas discovery.

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