Interactive Investor

The Oil Man: Genel, Ascent Resources, President

WTI $47.40 -26c, Brent $49.47 -48c, Diff -$2.07 -22c, NG $2.98 -2c

Another down day, although the complex moved up quite strongly initially as traders thought that the Qatar problem might lead to geo-political grief in the Gulf. They soon realised that it may only cause the OPEC production agreement to fall apart, even though Qatar's quota is only a 30,000 barrels per day cut.

It seems that the start of all this was the kidnapping of a party of Qatari princes on a falconry expedition for which their families paid a $1 billion ransom demand to Al Qaeda…

Genel Energy

An AGM statement from Genel today, next year's board will show significant changes as the current members are dropping like flies. There is little doubt that new Chairman Stephen Whyte will have his work cut out, but it is a good appointment and it is not all finished at Genel yet.

Production at Tawke is ok, at Taq Taq it is still pretty grim, but just the faintest signs of the fall being arrested. The development of the gas assets continues and real progress has been made here in recent months, it could still be the pot of gold so many have predicted.

Sensible debt management has paid off a fair slug of bonds and they are clear until 2019 for the next refinancing. Not an easy situation, but the political situation is slowly getting better, the assets with the notable exception of Taq Taq are still in place and before long there will be a new board in place, hold on for the time being.

Ascent Resources

An operational update from Ascent today which looks like a bit of shareholder handholding. At Pg-11A the downhole section is likely to be completed in around 7 days and, after that, the construction of the short flowline will be completed to connect to the CPP pipeline. The company is on track to sell gas to INA 'in the coming weeks' which is continued good news for the company.

President Energy

A new CFO for President Energy today as Bruce Martin is appointed group finance chief and gives a lead that Peter Levine is preparing for bigger things, as his predecessor was a part time appointment.

Martin appears to be extremely well qualified with 22 years at Schlumberger and significant experience in senior roles in South America. With all the other news from PPC lately, shareholders should be comforted that in all areas the company is looking to grow, and I expect further activity on all fronts in coming months.

And finally…

It seems that Anthony Joshua is going to have the rematch against Klitschko as was in the contract, with many other options available and titles to defend and belts which may have to be relinquished, never before will the young man need to make good decisions.

Yesterday the Aussies got rained off again and looking at the forecast and the rain here it may be a short game at Cardiff today where England play New Zealand. Yet again Morgan proved to be a useless tosser and Kane Williamson has elected to field first…

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.