www.blackrockoilandgasplc.co.uk
www.vsaresources.com
www.oilbarrel.com
Presentation from Thursday 6th July 06 can be seen on oilbarrel !


Monterey appraisal well suspended pending Wintershall evaluation. 1/12/06
BLR and Kappa in dispute.
BLR to meet with Kappa within next two weeks 1/12/06

Glad you mentioned SER, Dave. I nearly posted something last night but withdrew it. The gist of what I wanted to say was that there seems to so much more substance and less speculation when you look at BLR. I haven't read the SER threads elsewhere, but on this BB the talk always seems to be about chart technicalities and whether the fact that the CEO is now taking his coffee black is a screaming buy signal. When I look at co's like BLR, NOP, VOG, I can't see what all the fuss is about with SER. I think there's as much upside and a lot less risk to be had elsewhere. Maybe I just have a blind spot here, but I feel I know what I'm getting myself into with BLR and the rest.

SEY is probably a good grower. I haven't looked into it all that deeply as I've been concentrated on other things, but the trendline seems encouraging. It's a bit of a biggie when mentioned in the same breath as BLR and SER, though!

There we go, rant over!! What I'm hoping for over the coming weeks is a big jump on VOG, after which I may channel some of my takings into another chunk of BLR. Perhaps I'll spend some time examining SER a little more closely, though, too. And I'd be interested to hear what you settle on in the end.

The main attraction with SER seems to be that they are already producing in a small way, profitably, no debt, not looking to raise funds yet looking for new pastures. My problem is whether they can do anything significantly big to be significant... and yet the sp has already been up over 70% this year... you just have to buy them in 100's of '000's to get a significant holding and there don't appear to be too many sellers available to the PI.
Again, some useful info on proactive site.
Sorry to bore true BLRers!

BLR skids slightly today - latest buys went through at 1.2p. Sales at 1.05p. At this price, I might have to raid Grandma's hip-op fund for some cash to buy some more shares.

Sorry Granny, you'll thank me for it one day . . .

Talk of a memorial service this w/e over on ADVFN. Bring your own sandwiches and a kettle 'cos BLR seems to have lost theirs!!!!!

Where there's tea, there's hope, eh??

Seriously, though, has anyone got any justification for writing this one off other than the soggy share price? I'd be interested to hear it. The fact of the matter is that nothing negative has come up in the fundamentals, the E&P news is getting better, and the only two potential risk areas are 1.) that Arce production turns out not to be particularly exciting (and even then there's still a big chance it will be cash-generative) and 2.) that BLR has to place loads of stock to raise funds. Even then, how many shares would they place or how much cash would they raise in one go? A million pounds' worth or so, initially, I should think. Then the SP will rise on good news and things should look a lot more rosy.

Meanwhile other areas including Baul and Monterey are being explored with a view to drilling, and never mind the rest of the North Sea plus the prospects in the USA, all of which look to me to be low-risk as they have already been shown to be hydrocarbon-bearing.

I know that any dilution will initially be hard on anyone who has bought in at a much higher price, but I think it's worth gritting one's teeth for a few more weeks as this is about to turn the corner.

It would not surprise me at all if investors like Bruce Rowan increased their stakes at the next placing, and I wouldn't want them to have all the fun and for me to miss out.

Ok, 'nuff said - I'm starting to sound like a ramper. Disagreements welcome, as ever.

It does occur to me, though, that any failure of the steaming at Arce is going to be hard on both the SP and the amount of stock needing to be issued to raise further funds.

Thats just what's worrying a lot of people... and the market seems to be anticipating the worst. Like you, however, I am conscious that there are some big players backing this one at least one of which, I believe, was party to the last large placement... and the big boys don't throw it away!

A quick glance at the trading of this share for the last few days reveals that it has been almost all purchases (assuming that the predictive software that monitors this stuff has guessed correctly). So far today there has not been one sale. No question about which way the smart money's going, IMO.

One of the 'big boys' has ventured to suggest the company has decided on a strategy for funding the medium term... not entirely to his preferred route but one with reasonable, even good, chances of success.
As and when this is made clear, we should see some sp recovery. Meanwhile, as you say, there seems to be some smart money picking up some bargains.

That would be a sensible move by BLR - at the moment they do seem to be careering from placing to placing, cap in hand. Do you happen to have anything you can post regarding this issue such as an RNS or a link?

I wonder, though, if Burgess is keeping his cards close to his chest until May and the hoped-for success with Arce, which would clearly make a big difference both to cashflow and to the share price IF steaming is successful. (You know me - ever optimistic!! :o))

The shares are currently Bid: 1.1p Offer: 1.25p, with the most recent purchase going through at 1.2p flat for 250,000 shs. That's the narrowest spread I've seen quoted (although I don't have L2).

Sorry, nothing official, soul. I'm reiterating a resume of a conversation a big(ish) player and long term trusted poster claimed to have had with the company. He wasn't ramping but was certainly out to reassure.
This funding issue has been extensively debated and analysed over on ADVFN.

Do my eyes deceive me, or has the spread tightened right down since Tuesday morning? Haven't been near a computer in the last three days, so haven't had a chance to confirm this during trading hours.

I would be delighted if this stock suddenly had a realistic spread instead of the 26% or so we're used to.

found the answer - these trades went through at the end of the day yesterday. For most of the time the spread has been narrower than we've been used to, but nowhere near as tight as this. As usual, the big boys get the bargains!


Trade time Price (p) Volume Assumed purchase/sale* (p) Bid (p) Ask (p)
16:36 (13/04) 1.2 3500000 purchase 1.14 1.15
16:35 (13/04) 1.15 4000000 purchase 1.14 1.15

Positive result following the placing. Will be good to get some confirmed news from Colombia on progress which will really ignite the share price.

Good to see that the directors purchased stock in the placing as well. Here's the full text of today's RNS:

>> Black Rock Oil - Placing
RNS Number:5748B
Black Rock Oil & Gas PLC
18 April 2006


For immediate release 18 April 2006


Black Rock Oil & Gas PLC

('Black Rock' or the 'Company')


Placing to raise 1,312,614


Black Rock (stock code: BLR), the UK-based exploration company, announces that
it has placed with institutional and other investors 131,261,415 new ordinary
shares of 0.5p each ('Ordinary Shares') at a placing price of 1p per Ordinary
Share (the 'Placing'). The new money being raised of 1,312,614 (before
expenses) will be used to fund the Company's operations in Colombia. The
Directors have also participated in the Placing at the Placing Price as set out
below, together with their resultant shareholdings in the Company:

Director Ordinary Shares Resultant Interest in
subscribed for shareholding the Company
in the Placing
Tony Baldry 1,000,000 1,000,000 0.18 per cent.
Interests associated 1,000,000 19,484,243 3.48 per cent.
with Ivan Burgess*
John Cubitt 1,000,000 1,000,000 0.18 per cent.
Peter Hughes 500,000 500,000 0.09 per cent.

* Comprises 544,171 Ordinary Shares subscribed for by Ivan Burgess' pension fund
and a further 455,829 Ordinary Shares subscribed for by Mrs Ivan Burgess, the
wife of Ivan Burgess.


The new Ordinary Shares will rank pari passu with the existing Ordinary Shares
in issue. Application has been made for the new Ordinary Shares to be admitted
to trading on AIM, which is expected to commence on 21 April 2006. Following the
Placing, Black Rock will have a total issued share capital of 560,198,815
Ordinary Shares admitted to trading on AIM.


Ivan Burgess, Managing Director of Black Rock Oil & Gas plc, commented:


'The funds raised will allow us to commence our development programme in
Colombia. As already indicated, the plan is to steam flood the Arce Oil Field
with the objective of generating early cash flow.


'Black Rock and our local partner, Kappa, anticipate that the Arce 4 development
well will spud in late April/early May 2006. It is expected that this well will
come on stream later this year. Further updates will be provided as material
information becomes available.


'We have deliberately chosen highly prospective acreage and in Kappa we have a
very experienced partner with an impressive track record. We believe that the
outlook for the Company has never been more positive.' <<

Lots of shares turned over this week - very exciting! Roll on, May!! I have a nagging conviction that I should be betting the farm on this, but have had to settle for a few sheep and one of the tractors . . . .

Confess I cannot get get excited about BLR as it specialises in heavy oils which are unsexy to say the least, and for good reason ..... in a nutshell, though one may find large resreves of same, it is very difficult to extract economically and effectively, thus leaving a good % in the ground .... also heavy oil sells at a significant discount to light.

Cynic, there are some light oil exploration and also gas development plays in BLR's portfolio. Regarding the heavy oil, BLR is implementing steam-flooding, common in Colombia, and seems to have a fair shot at making its wells productive. Also the fact that heavy oil sells at a discount to light does not mean it is unprofitable. The company's house broker reckoned on cashflow of $25 per barrel of heavy crude from the Arce field, and that was at last October's oil prices. At the current low market cap, given the scope of the E&P portfolio I think BLR is cheap enough to warrant a punt, and any significant production success will have a marked effect on the SP.

I'd agree that the stock is not for widows or orphans, but I side with Peter Lynch over issues of sexiness. The big question is whether one is happy with taking on a fair amount of risk, but I think that a lot of the risk with BLR is a matter of perception. I'm prepared to invest in this as being one of the potential big surprises of the next 18 months, but that's just my opinion and anyone who's DYOR'd and come to a different conclusion is entitled to their view.

you and i will choose to disagree then ... no hard feelings ..... any investment, particularly in commodity based stocks is taking an above average risk ..... I happen to think there are a lot better than BLR .... e.g. BUR or EME or VOG or MRP or even arguably CHP if you want to stick with oil/gas stocks