Interactive Investor

The Oil Man: Oil price, Victoria

WTI $39.78 -58c, Brent $42.91 -19c, Diff $3.13 +39c, NG $1.94 +4c

After starting the day down more than two dollars after the fiasco that was Doha, crude recovered remarkably well to close down only modestly. Most of that can be put down to Kuwait where the strike I mentioned yesterday took a stronger grip, production is down to around 1 million barrels per day (b/d) from recent numbers of nearer 2.8 million b/d. This will be short lived as employers are said to be prepared to negotiate with the strikers.

On the stocks front Genscape reported that inventories at Cushing were down by 860/- barrels although analysts guesses for the US Energy Information Administration number are still showing a build of around 2.1 million barrels.

Finally, my retail gasoline watch tells me that for the first time for a while gas is up in the USA, at $2.14 a gallon that is a rise of 6.8 cents on the week.

Victoria Oil & Gas

Victoria Oil & Gas presents its first quarter operational update this morning which I will cover briefly, I am meeting the company shortly, including the new CEO designate so more after that.

The numbers were in line with the company's expectations for the first dry season quarter, the provisional assignment of the Matanda block was made and they secured a $26 million debt facility. Production averaged 13.2 million square cubic feet per day (mmscf/d) (4.5) and sales of 1,131 mmscf (404)were recorded.

The company has net cash of $4.6 million (5.9) and a lot of exciting plans for the coming months. The drilling programme of two wells at Logbaba is now visible with a rig signed and on the way, and continued expansion of the gas plant and pipeline network is in process.

VOG is a bucket list stock and up around 72% year-to-date, I dont envisage any change to recommendation but more after the meeting.

And finally…

Last night was important for Spurs, a possibly tricky visit to Stoke was made to look incredibly straightforward and the Fox hunt is most definitely on.

If Villa didnt have enough problems already as Merve the swerve and David Bernstein leave the board after a clash of personalities… Apart from that the only thing wrong the absentee American owner did wrong was to sell all the best players and get an unknown manager on the case…

Finally, yet again I am asking for sponsorship for Sunday's London marathon. Not for me of course but this year my daughter Holly and some friends are running in memory of a close friend who died last spring. They are hoping to raise money for the Anthony Nolan trust which is a brilliant charity. I know you all get many requests at this time of year but if you have a few coppers to spare it would be much appreciated. Link is below with all the details, thank you very much.

www.justgiving.com/Team-Torsie

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.