The tiny Irish stock on the brink of landing 'the first' post-sanction oil deal in Iraq. Ref 'Fleet Street Letter' 12-04-04..

Ivanhoe Bidding for Iraqi Oil Projects

Friday, January 07, 2005 5:53:59 PM ET

By Jeffrey Jones

CALGARY, Alberta (Reuters) - Canada's Ivanhoe Energy Inc. is bidding to develop three Iraqi oil and gas projects, including one that appeared briefly to have been awarded to another company two weeks ago, Ivanhoe's chief executive said on Friday.

Ivanhoe, a Vancouver-based company backed by financier Robert Friedland, is in the running for the Himrin oil field in central Iraq as well as the Suba-Luhais oil field and Zubair gas project in the south, CEO Leon Daniel told Reuters.

"We submitted our first bid back in the early summer on all three of these," Daniel said from the company's Bakersfield, California, office.

Since then, Ivanhoe has submitted clarifications and revised bids to the oil ministry in the war-torn country, where output capacity has been crippled for several years, he said.

Daniel said he could not confirm reports that the contracts could be awarded shortly, and that there has been speculation that deals will not be announced until after the Jan. 30 election.

In late December, another Canadian-based company, privately held OGI Group, appeared to have been awarded the Himrin contract, but days later it was left empty-handed when the oil ministry suddenly called for new bids.

"We've never been told that anyone won any of the contracts, so I'm surprised that this OGI thought they won anything," Daniel said.

"The Iraqis have continued to proceed on the basis that it was a competitive bid and we don't know exactly who all the competitors were."

Petrel Resources Plc of Ireland is also hoping to win the Himrin development, having announced its intentions last year. That field may eventually pump 80,000-100,000 barrels a day, industry sources have said.

The U.S.-backed government awarded another project, the Khurmala-Dome oil field, on Dec. 29 to a consortium that includes Iraqi-based Kar and Avrasya of Turkey. That field is said to have the potential to produce 100,000 bpd.

The Khurmala-Dome award represented the country's first oil development deal with foreign company in the postwar era.

Ivanhoe has oil exploration and production projects in China, California and West Texas. It is also searching for places to apply heavy-to-light oil processing technology.

The company was co-founded by Friedland, who is also chairman of Ivanhoe Mines, best known for its large copper and gold discovery in Mongolia.

In Iraq, Ivanhoe Energy is bidding for contracts that include engineering, procurement, equipment delivery to an Iraqi port and construction supervision, Daniel said.

"It's not production sharing or anything such thing as that. We do the work and they pay us for it," he said.

Ivanhoe shares rose 4 Canadian cents to C$2.85 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Friday.

($1=$1.23 Canadian)


http://www.metronews.ca/reuters_business.asp?id=49685


wilbs

Morning wilbs,
good find, now we know they are definitely in the running.
Have you been blown away yet?, it`s terrible here.
Dexter

Hi dexter,
Thought it may of been of some interest. Its terrible here aswell. I was heading to the train station with kids and got soaked through so drying out at home.

Are you in on another oil shares?

wilbs

Wilbs,
06.08 on a saturday morning!!, is that up early or in late?!!!!

I couldnt sleep so what better time to scout around on the net while kids are asleep.

wilbs

Wilbs,
no i`m only in PET at the mo.,a bit down so i`ll have to stick it out

dexter,
I think (imho) that we will be rewarded in the end, its just a matter of time. With all the other tenders that they may go for and the relationship they are supposed to have with the iraqis then hopefuly they will get something. A while back, we all got carried away with the hype and all sorts of sp figures were floating about. I still hold a few and will be happy with what I can get.

Im in cop,dgo,afd and still got some in jarvis after doing ok before.

wilbs

wilbs,
One that i`m keeping an eye on is BPD, it``s dropping at the moment , but i think it will bounce, it went mad the first two days of trading , and quite often this happens again.COP i think is a good bet, i wish i got some at 13-15p mark, with it`s connections in Iraq it could explode( excuse the pun).Another one with prospects is Cluff Gold, again dropping at the moment but it has reserves in africa, it could be good for a fairly quick gain when it bottoms out.
But then what do i know, my first share was Leeds United!!, lost the lot, too slow.
dexter

Dexter,

I dont know much about BPD, I ave been looking at cluff, there seems to be alot of gold and mining companies either listed or waiting to come onto aim. I am alos in on NBR, got the info off the thread that Toyko started. Diamonds are in short supply compared to the demand for them. I am in on AFD, posters over on the AFDN threads have no faith in JT and want him voted out at the next AGM(19th jan I think). Leeds United eh! Could be worse, could be Norwich!!

wilbs

well, of to lynn now to get a new monitor, if i don`t get blown away first!

I just bought a new computer and bought a TFT, its fantastic. Got a TV card yesterday and can now watch sky on it. Better go and do my shopping I suppose.

wilbs

wilbs,
which set-up did you get?,and what tv card is it that you can get sky on?
the tft i wanted was out of stock, typical.
dexter

Hi dexter,

I bought a dell base unit brand new off ebay, cost 235 delivered next day.The spec is as follows:

Processor
Intel Celeron Processor 2.6GHz

Storage
80GB (7200) RPM Hard drive
52x CD-ROM Drive

Video
Integrated Intel Extreme graphics

Memory
256MB RAM DDR Memory

Communication
Integrated 10/100 network interface

Ports & expandability
3 PCI
6 USB ports (4 at back, 2 at front)
1 parallel port
1 serial port

Sound
Integrated sound (just plug in some speakers, not included)

Keyboard
Dell Quiet Keyboard

Mouse
Dell PS/2 2 Button Wheel Mouse
Dell Mouse Mat

Windows xp home
Microsoft works
Adobe acrobat/reader
Paintshop pro
Dell media center
+ loads of other stuff

I bought an NEC 15' TFT monitor for 100.

The TV card was from maplin, its called WinTV GO, made by Hauppauge. Its got teletext, records programs on your hard drive to burn onto DVD. Its not got sky on it but Ive run a link off my digibox to it so I can watch it on my TFT(you still have to change channels in room box is). It cost 39, they also do a better model with remote control and a radio tuner(about 90).

Hope is some help, if you want to know anymore ill be glag to help or email me at cwtrader@btinternet.com

wilbs

dexter

Good to see you're keeping the spirits up. Lucky down here near Rye where the winds have not been too bad although it stopped me emerging early for golf. Good excuse!

Thought I should explain my PET sale. I still think its a super bet amongst emerging oil companies and a good play from many standpoints. I tried to think it through dispassionately, which was difficult as I had bought in at 100p plus and sold at 50p for a 10k loss. To my reckoning, though, it is irrelevant what you paid: the question is whether I would buy them now; if not they are proably a sale as there are several strong contenders as buys.

First: I bought on the assumption that they would have a share in the oil production if they won a contract; reasonable assumption but debunked by the Iraqi annoucement that they will own all the oil; this applies to Block 6 research as well as the initial fixed price contracts. Second: I can't see that there will be that much coming through to the bottom line if they do win one of these contracts; they have to make heavy use of sub-contractors; they will have to put in a keen price as it is clear that Khormala Dome will have been 'bought' by the Turks. Third: the up-side cap. is proably well under 100K this year and there is a fair downside too; thus it doesn't satisfy a 3:1 return criterion.

Having said that, PET will be the only oil on my watchlist and I could well trade them. I would forecast with reasonable confidence that they will end 2005 with progress under their belt; by then they could well deserve re-evaluation as a potential major player. I may well be proved wrong in selling: I hope so from the viewpoint of my friends on the board.

Eric

Morning all,
Where is everyone?. cheers for that wilbs,what is it like buying off e-bay?, i`ve never really looked on the site, what with all the horror stories etc.
I sold PET today and bought NTX for a quick gain, not going to plan at the minute though!, i want to buy back into PET and increase my holding soon, as i do feel they have plenty of potential in the longer term.
dexter

Afternoon dexter et all,

I have bought loads of stuff of ebay, never had any problems. I bought into NAD this morning, its gone up 50% already. The shares have now been susspended by request of the company pending an announcement.

wilbs

Cripes I missed the RNS & look at the price now.

Dexter,
did you sell all you holding of PET?

wilbs,
yes i did, just having my lunch, checked it,RNS out jumped back in, at a loss with NTX and buying back.
dexter

dexter

Hopefully we will start getting a few more RNS's. Prob be a bit of profit taking. I may sell then buy back in. Have you heard from toyko lately?

wilbs