The Oil Man: Amerisur, Europa, Victoria, Ascent
7th April 2016 13:28
WTI $37.75 +$1.86, Brent $39.84 +$1.97, Diff $2.09 +11c, NG $1.91 -4c
Two up days in a row and the bulls have it, especially after a pretty good set of inventory stats, for crude that is…
The Energy Information Administration showed a stock draw of 4.9 million barrels, which was indeed meaningful and particularly on the Gulf coast where refinery utilisation was 95%. For products, things are taking a turn for the worse - and remember, gasoline stocks are still actually higher than this time last year, with distillates much higher.
Bulls also took pleasure from the far East, where more positive news from China and even Japan rallied markets and currencies.
Amerisur
It has been a busy quarter for so inevitably these figures are somewhat out of date, but do show signs of a company in a very strong position.
Revenues were a touch light, mainly due to 290/- barrels of oil not sold in December, but, where costs were taken, realisations at $42.85 were pretty much in line with expectations.
Production (restricted ,of course) was 4,437 barrels per day (b/d) last year and guidance for this year is for it to run up to 7,200 b/d by the end of the year. The key game-changer is clearly the OBA pipeline, which is due to start flowing this month and changes the economics at every level.
With $42 million (£30 million) of cash at the year end and the $35 million raised since, AMER is in pretty good nick; it has no debt and its programme is currently to drill with only free cash flow.
A busy season of drilling will involve four on Platanillo, LTT at Coati and, of course, the Paraguay exploration well in May - the recent raise may give it some scope on this front.
The two acquisitions in the period and after may be followed by more, but I suspect that we have seen most of that; right now it's time for the company to build on what appears to be a particularly well put together portfolio, with an exciting 18 months ahead and, of course, materially better economics thanks to the OBA…
Sundry
The land of the free has taken a bit of a hit lately, with first and then being stymied by regulators. I must admit that, whilst the various deals in the oilfield services sector in recent times have visibly reduced the number of major players in the industry, I haven't heard much whinging from others either in the services or the exploration sector.
A remarkably downbeat statement by this morning, with hardly any mention of Ireland; I assume that there are things going on in phase two and, of course, in various farm-out negotiations.
Instead the company concentrates on the UK onshore portfolio, where it won three licences in the 14th round, were successful at Holmwood and are going ahead with Wressle, which should come on production this year.
has raised £800,000 at 0.25p, following its recent deal in Tanzania, and, with production coming on-stream soon, that looks well financed.
has confirmation of government approval for the Matanda PSC in which, it recently announced, it bought a 75% stake from . Near to Logbaba and 60 times bigger, the company will begin a work programme before long.
And seems to have ended its recent honeymoon by announcing that it has raised £500,000 to keep it going until the end of June.
And finally…
Last night saw the Noisy Neighbours go to Paris and emerge with a draw and two away goals, making them favourites to make the semi finals. But who will they play?
Last night Wolfsburg saw off Real Madrid two-nil to give them every chance of proceeding; I always did say that Wolfsburg were a hard team to beat…
In the Boropa Cup there is a juicy fixture, with Borussia Dortmund welcoming back its favourite son as Klopp takes his HubCap Stealers there in the first leg.
Of course, night owls will be up watching the Masters and, with the fab three of Spieth, Day and McIlroy heading a cracking field, it will surely be one of the best for many a year.
On this side of the pond, the attention turns back to national Hunt racing with the start of the three day Aintree Grand National meeting.
With Willie Mullins bringing some of his Cheltenham stars over to have a crack at Paul Nicholls' title, we will see Annie Power and Djakadam today, facing up to Cue Card and many others in a festival of great jump racing.
This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.
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