Smallcap Oil & Gas round-up with a sprinking of Miners!

June. 03. 2011

Aminex;

Provided an update on progress at its Sunny Ernst-2 well on its Alta Loma property, Galveston County, Texas. Enhanced treatment facilities have now been successfully installed and other production facilities upgraded.  Production is being increased gradually during pressure monitoring and is currently producing at 8.1 million cubic feet gas per day and 345 barrels condensate (1,695 Barrels oil equivalent) from the recently perforated ‘S’ sands formation, with no significant decline in pressure. The company expects Higher production rates should ultimately be achieved Aminex has a 37.5% interest in this well which is operated by El Paso E&P, LP.  Several other parties share ownership of the remaining 37.5% of the property.   Aminex’s working interest share of production equates to 636 barrels oil per day, of which 20% is condensate and 80% is gas.

Aurelian;

Received a TR1 Notification that Norges Bank Investment Management had increased  their relevant interests to above the 5% threshold. The resulting situation after this triggering transaction was a direct holding of 25,036,251 ordinary shares in Aurelian. Or  5.07% of the Company.

Bahamas Petroleum:

Announced the appointment of Dr Paul Gucwa to the senior management team of the Company as Chief Operating Officer, reporting directly to the Chief Executive. Dr Paul Gucwa (age 64) has 37 years experience as a Geoscientist as well as in technical and business management roles developing exploration and production projects throughout the United States and Canada.

Cadogan Petroleum;

Further to the announcement dated 13 April 2011 detailing the proposed disposal of up to 60% of Pokrovskoe Petroleum B.V. and 60% of Zagoryanska
Petroleum B.V. to Eni Ukraine Holdings B.V.Cadogan posted a circular to Shareholders convening a General Meeting to approve the proposed disposal . The General Meeting is scheduled for 2.30 pm on 16 June 2011 at The Royal Society of Chemistry, Burlington House, Piccadilly, London W1J OBA (or as soon thereafter as the Annual General Meeting, convened at the same venue on that day, concludes or is adjourned).

Chariot Oil & Gas

Released their Final Results for the twelve months ended 28 February 2011 announcing to the world “Significant prospective resources in place, poised to drill first well” Highlights of which were; Increased gross mean unrisked prospective resources to 15.5 billion barrels (11.2 Bbbls net to Chariot)… Identified game-changing mega structure – Nimrod – with gross mean unrisked prospective resource volume of 4.6 billion barrels and an estimated 25% Chance of Success..Farm-out datarooms received strong interest from numerous majors with deepwater expertise – negotiations with potential farm-out partners at advanced stage..Further strengthened Board, technical and management teams…Drill ready inventory established – multiple play types, multiple objective horizons…Placing completed in April 2011 raised US$140 million – enables adherence to planned exploration programme of drilling first well in Q4 2011 and increases optionality – giving current cash position of US$148 million.

Desire Petroleum;

Released an Operational Update on the Company’s 3D seismic acquisition programme which  is now complete. The full-fold area of coverage is approximately 1416 square kilometres in Tranches C, D, F and adjacent open areas.  Combined with Desire’s existing 3D data, these new data provide almost full coverage of the East Flank Play Fairway on Desire’s acreage and extended coverage of the Liz area, Ann, Pam and Helen prospects.  A planned extension of the survey to the south was curtailed due to poor weather conditions.

Edenville Energy;

The African coal and uranium exploration and development company, announced its Audited Final Results for the year ended 31 December 2010.

Copies of which  can be found on the companys website via this link www.edenville-energy.com

Empyrean Energy;

Released some much needed good news on revenue from oil and gas production operations for the last six months:Revenue from the company’s USA based production assets including the Sugarloaf Project, Hercules Project and Riverbend Project over the last six months totals US$1,074,160.19 the company also  noted the recent announcement by Marathon Oil Corporation that it has reached agreement to acquire Hilcorp Energy Company  and its partners Kohlberg Kravis Roberts assets in the Eagle Ford Shale trend in Southern Texas for US$3.5 billion. The transaction is conditional on customary terms and conditions and relevant statutory approvals. Hilcorp is the operator to and partner of Empyrean in the Eagle Ford Shale acreage that Empyrean participates in known as the Sugarloaf Project, within the Sugarkane Field. Hilcorp’s interest in the Sugarloaf Project acreage is part of the acreage subject to the potential transaction with Marathon. Under the terms of the agreements governing the Sugarloaf Project, Hilcorp will cease to be the project operator at such time as it ceases to hold any ownership interest in the joint venture areas of mutual interest. Hilcorp will continue to be the project operator until the acquisition closes and Empyrean anticipates confirmation from Marathon that it intends to become project operator.

EnCore Oil;

Announced that the Cladhan appraisal well 210/30a-4x, the final well in this current four well programme located in UK North Sea Blocks 210/29a & 210/30a, has reached Total Measured Depth of 10,614 feet. The appraisal well was drilled as a side-track to evaluate a channel to the south of the current Cladhan discovery.  The well encountered an Upper Jurassic reservoir with a gross True Vertical Thickness of 171 feet and 105 feet of net sand.  Reservoir quality is excellent with porosities up to 25 per cent.  Log and pressure data indicates that an uppermost sandstone unit of five feet TVT is hydrocarbon bearing with an “Oil Down To” at 10,177 feet True Vertical Depth Sub Sea and a calculated Oil Water Contact at 10,200 feet TVDSS based on the pressure data. An oil sample was obtained from this interval.  Below this oil bearing sand, a further 100 net feet of water-wet sands were encountered.  Pressure data shows that the sands are over pressured in this well, and these are similar to the pressure trend encountered in the Central Channel drilled by the 210/30a-4y well, and therefore in a separate pressure regime from the main Cladhan accumulation.  The presence of an Oil Down To indicates potential for a new accumulation, separate from Cladhan, up dip of the current well location and also potential up dip of the previously drilled 210/30a-4y well.  The well will now be suspended for potential reuse in the development of the Cladhan area. This final well completes the current phase of drilling at Cladhan and has helped delineate the discovery and provided greater clarity on what has been discovered in the Cladhan area, although there is still further appraisal work to be carried out in the area.  An infield survey and pipeline survey is now planned to commence later this month to determine the best development options for the Cladhan discovery.

Gulfkeystone Petroleum;

Released a Kurdistan Operational Update, announcing that the Shaikan-4 Deep Appraisal Well has spudded on the Shaikan block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq on Friday 27^th May 2011. Shaikan-4 is the second deep appraisal well to be drilled on the Company’s significant oil discovery with gross oil-in-place volumes of between 4.9 billion barrels to 10.8 billion barrels calculated on the P90 to P10 basis with a mean value of 7.5 billion barrels.Shaikan-4 is being drilled 6 kilometres to the north-west of the Shaikan-1 discovery well and is targeted to drill to the top of the Permian to reach the planned total depth (TD) of approximately 3,760 meters.

Hardy Oil and Gas;

Announces that its Finance Director, Dinesh Dattani FCA will be leaving the Company on 31 August 2011 to return to his permanent residence in Calgary, Canada.

Leni Gas & Oil;

Announces that it had been informed by Mediterranean Oil and Gas that the participants in Malta Area 4 (Blocks 4, 5, 6, 7) in which LGO holds a 10% interest have been granted an 18 month extension to the first exploration period of the Area 4 Production Sharing Contract (“PSC”) by the Maltese Government. The PSC has been extended until 18 January 2013.

MatraPetroleum;

Announced an operations update for its Sokolovskoe Field: The eagerly anticipated update on A12 RECEIVED SHORT SHRIFT FROM  TIRED INVESTORS. Following pressure analysis and well testing which had indicated that Well-12 would benefit substantially from acid treatment, Well-12 was successfully treated with acid and cleaned-up with nitrogen, utilising a coiled-tubing unit. During clean-up and whilst pumping nitrogen the well produced  at rates in excess of 1,000 barrels of oil per day  During the latter stages of the operation however, the well appears to have developed a leak in the casing at a level above the main reservoir. This has allowed water to enter the well and is affecting well performance. The well is currently producing on natural flow and over the last two days averaged 720 barrels per day but with water cut increasing to around 30% Well-12 will continue to be produced until a workover rig is available – expected within the next two to three weeks. The length of the workover is unknown until the source of the leak is fully identified. The well will be returned to production on completion of the workover. Analysis of data from Well-13 indicated that acid treatment would be less effective than for Well-12.  Bearing this in mind together with likely operational risks following the previous remedial cementation to shut-off water, acid treatment was not recommended for this well. After cleaning out residual water with the coiled tubing unit and nitrogen, Well-13 is now producing 40-45 bopd on a 4.5mm choke with a wellhead pressure of 75 psi, without any indications of water production. Installation of a downhole pump in Well-13 at a later date is likely to increase production to the 80-90 bopd level. Matra’s Managing Director, Peter Hind commented: “The acid treatment has been very successful in improving productivity in Well-12, and the well appears to be capable of oil production under natural flow of close to 1,000 barrels of oil per day. An apparent leak in the casing in the well has allowed water into the system and needs to be repaired before confirming this result. A workover rig will be mobilised to the site as soon as the relevant equipment can be sourced. It’s pleasing to see that Well-13 is producing oil without any signs of water. Whilst acid treatment may have improved productivity of this well a little, there were significant operational risks associated with this and accordingly, such treatment was not recommended. The fact that both wells were drilled to meet our licence obligations means that they were not ideally configured for production. This has caused various operational difficulties that can be eliminated by design changes for subsequent development wells.”

Niche Group;

The AIM listed investment company with interests in gas exploration and development activities onshore Turkey, announces a drilling update provided by Oman Resources in which Niche holds loan notes convertible into a 35.7% shareholding. Oman Resources has a 50% interest in four licences in Turkey in partnership with Arar Petrol ve Gaz AUPAS (the “Operator”), in which Niche is a 5% shareholder.

Range Resources;

The International oil and gas exploration, development and production company,  announced the completion of the acquisition of 100% of SOCA Petroleum which in turn holds 100% of three exploration and production onshore oil and gas licenses, along with 100% of a fully operational drilling subsidiary with five exploration drill rigs, four production drill rigs and associated equipment and operational personnel. As previously mentioned in an earlier announcement, the completion of the acquisition now immediately triggers the commencement of an aggressive work program that is expected to see a rapid increase in production from the existing reserve base as it moves towards its targeted production rate of 4,000 bopd from existing P1 and P2 reserves (currently production is 650-700 bopd). The program will also target the deeper (and potentially bigger) Herrera formation and untested areas not currently forming part of the current reserve base. The Company is currently updating the current reserve and valuation report across the Trinidad assets which will also include the Herrera potential which has not been included in previous reports.

Rockhopper Exploration;

Thrilled investors yet again following an update on the 14/10-5 appraisal well:  A Significant reservoir package and hydrocarbon column has been encountered..Wireline log analysis indicates 93.5m (306 feet) net pay in good quality reservoir, 79m net pay in main fan complex, 14.5m net pay in lower fan complex, No oil water contact observed,Rockhopper now intends to test the well.

Solo Oil;

Announced it had been informed of a new timetable for testing and completion of the Ausable#5 well in South Western Ontario by its Joint Venture partner Reef Resources.  Reef anticipates that the completion rig will be moved on site early next week and the completion acid job will be conducted by the end of next week.  Flow testing of the well will be conducted upon completion of the acid job. Movement of the drilling rig off the Ausable # 5 well and the subsequent move of the completion rig on the site have been hampered by extremely high rainfall conditions in South Western Ontario.Reef recently completed the log analysis on its Ausable # 5 well.  Log analysis indicates 72 metres net pay of oil and NGL’s in the Guelph and A2 formations. Reef will be announcing test results after completion of Ausable #5 and the details of the next development steps in the Enhanced Oil Recovery – Natural Gas Liquids program in due course. The Ausable reef is currently on production and is generating revenue from the initial program which commenced in 4th quarter 2010.

Tower Resources;

Announces that its Annual Report for the year ended 31 December 2010 together with Notice of AGM has been posted to shareholders. The AGM is convened to be held at 11.00am on 21st June 2011 at One America Square, Crosswall, London, EC3N 2SG.The Annual Report and the Notice of AGM will shortly be available at www.towerresources.co.uk

Wessex Exploration;

Released a Half Yearly Report in respect of the six months ended 31 December 2010 highlighting continuing progress during the period being reported upon and to the present time. Copies of which can be found at www.wessexexploration.com