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

Excellent article and news for PEt today, shall hopefully be followed up by a 7am RNS as the info is now in the public domain. Wouldn't be surprised to see this open up pretty high in the morning, not giving many of the shorters time to get out with all their profits. Shall be fun to see where the SP ends up tomorrow

Petrel signs Iraq oil deal 02 October 2005 By Eamon Quinn Irish petroleum explorer Petrel Resources is set to sign its second significant agreement this weekend with Iraqi oil officials to help to identify new oil resources in the war-torn country.According to market sources, officials from the Ministry of Oil in Baghdad plan to meet today in Dubai with Petrel and three other oil companies - Norway's Statoil, Dubai-based Crescent Oil and Gas, and Pertamina, Indonesia's state-owned oil giant.Petrel is understood to have won one of four technical agreements that will give it exclusive access to oil data from the Mesopotomia area of Iraq. The significance of the deal for the company is that it confirms that Petrel has made inroads into pitching for contracts in Iraq.Petrel chief executive David Horgan has visited the country on numerous occasions during the worst of the violence there.It is believed the ministry has offered the company an agreement to view data of a geological area in the western desert. The area is known to have significant oil-bearing potential.It is unlikely that Petrel will gain rights over the area to which it has been given access, but the geological data will give it an advantage if it were to be offered the chance to develop any oil fields in the future. Petrel is likely to have access to the data for the next 12 months.Earlier this month, Petrel won a 164 million contract to develop two oilfields in Iraq to quadruple production to 200,000 barrels a day.It won the contract to develop the Suba and Luhais fields in southern Iraq to boost output from less than 50,000 barrels a day.Petrel shares, which have traded as high as 133.5 pence on London's Alternative Investment Market a year ago, were trading at 60 pence on Friday.

http://www.thepost.ie/post/pages/p/story.aspx-qqqt=MARKETS-q qqs=themarket-qqqid=8428-qqqx=1.asp

thats strange the moo are offering them data but nothing else or perhaps this is a cover for block 6!

dyor

good luck holders tomorrow anyway........

NO RNS as yet, don't think this is a cover for block 6, as PET have been asked to organise a focus group on PSA awards in Iraq by the MOO, then they are given this, a block that borders with Syria (regional play), doesn't take a genius to work out what is happening. Those contacts we have been talking about for the past year or so are finally starting to show fruit, as PET truly are the 1st European company to be getting a foothold in Iraq

Good rise on expexted news.

See the news.

Petrel Resources signs cooperation agreement with Iraq Ministry of Oil
AFX

THE BEST IS YET TO COME// buna.

Pet appear to be receiving more coverage lately. The following have news items re their, Subba and Luhais oilfield development service contract.

Unison ie .http://http://www.unison.ie/business/stories.php3?ca=80&si=1483833
The following are obviously similar to the above link, of the Unison article.
Irish Examiner
Irish Independent
RTE News

Pushing for oil.
http://http://www.iraqdevelopmentprogram.org/idp/news/new1045.htm

Iraq sweetens oil contract terms (07/10/05)

Is this an old quote or are Pet still expecting pre war contracts to be honoured. ( I as most take it that No pre war contracts were actually signed so why is the Iris Examiner.com still stating contracts signed ). Am I wrong or does the said Irish Examiner need putting right.

One extract from todays article.

However, a Petrel spokesperson said that they would expect pre-war contracts to be honoured and the fact that the company has been approached to carry out initial studies at Merjan should benefit it greatly if a significant find is made.

http://www.examiner.ie/pport/web/business/Full_Story/did-sgn8QLMpqr7f6sglO-LCk0lQvU.asp

Having trouble with the links system.

While I am not a great fan of Teeling I think in this case he has got it right. Continuity in past arrangements has always been my experience in these areas. The same people will be making the deals under a different banner. Be aware, progress will be slow, they do like all interests to be in line and this is very often misinterpreted by us, it is just their way of coming to a decision. Different cultures do things differently.

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/newspaper/0,,2769-1817022,00.html

Nice write up in the Sunday Times... For full article see link.

Minnow Petrel reaps rich benefits of doing the business in Baghdad
Graham Walsh



PETREL Resources retains a presence in Baghdad, but it certainly isnt a case of business as usual, according to David Horgan, the managing director of the Dublin-based oil company ploughing a lonely furrow in Iraq.

A nice couple of reports.

Reuters, comment by Ahmad Chalabi

"U.S. and British oil companies should have the first right of refusal because the United States and Britain committed to the liberation of Iraq. This is still my view. It may not be shared by the rest of the government."

( hope he is including Ireland in this )

http://today.reuters.co.uk/news/newsArticle.aspx?type=topNews&storyID=2005-10-10T044306Z_01_KRA002405_RTRUKOC_0_UK-ENERGY-IRAQ.xml

A very good background article re the state of Iraq oil industry, and its history. Its fairly long but well worth a read. Link only due to articles length.

http://www.mees.com/postedarticles/oped/v48n41-5OD01.htm

500,000 pound buy earlier, someone very confident.

forest that was part of the placing of 2.6m the other day.but still good anyway.

Petralva,

If the 7.18 delayed trade 769,231 buy was part of the placement would it not be marked down as a T trade or maybe as a unknown trade ?

Another excellent ( but lengthy ) article on Iraq's Oil. Well worth the read, but as said lenthy so will only put link, and a small snippet.

http://www.uruknet.info/?p=m16729&date=13-oct-2005_18:13_ECT

Can Attacks on Oil Facilities lead to Peace?
Mike Whitney

Most experts don't believe that Iraq will be able to substantially increase its exports for at least the next 2 years. This is a dramatic contrast from the neocon's predictions that Iraq would be pumping 3 million barrels per day by now. That would have kept the world awash in petroleum and America shielded from the impending recession.

several pages on iraq some with petrel resources,

http://www.iht.com/articles/2005/10/13/business/iraqoil.php

greekman,

i doubt that, but 3m would have certainly helped..

i am thinking of a risky punt here

Strike it lucky

16 October 2005 By Eamon Quinn
Tullow made it out of the ranks of the minnows in recent years, and its transformation has left investors waiting for the next success story. A breakthrough for an Irish oil explorer is already overdue, analysts say.

The Irish candidates to make the next move from minnow by hitting oil or gas include Petroceltic, the Algerian and Italian oil explorer run by oil veteran John Craven; John Teeling's Pan Andean and Petrel Resources; Harry Wilson's Sterling Energy; Tony O'Reilly's Providence; and the AIM market newcomers, including David Hough's Circle Oil and Gas and the Irish-focused Island Oil run by Paul Griffiths, another veteran of the Irish oil scene.



The best market conditions in over a decade - crude prices last week were trading at $62 a barrel compared with $45 at the start of the year - has pushed the shares of speculative oil explorers to new highs.

But a major oil find could transform a speculative minnow explorer overnight into a respectable junior oil producer. Getting there is no sure thing.

The share prices of the Irish-based exploration companies have spiked this year and many have subsequently fallen as prospects came and went.

The economics of the industry should be sobering for investors. Industry leaders estimate that the daily cost of operating a rig in Irish waters can be as much as $210,000 (e 175,000) each day. Even acquiring a rig in the current tight market is a major task, while delivering a rig to Irish waters from the North Sea can cost the operator as much as 3 million.

The rewards of a winning bet are, of course, huge and it is no wonder that the exploration stocks trade on newsflow.

Making sense of the sector can be daunting for the oil investor.

For Stuart Draper, head of research at Dolmen Securities, Petroceltic is the pick of the Irish oil exploration sector. Its quality prospects in Algeria, credible' management and $20 million of net cash on its balance sheet mean that it does not need to come back to shareholders any time soon.

Royalties of $250,000 a year from the Kinsale gas field also mean useful funding as Petroceltic plans to start drilling in Algeria by early next year.

Neighbouring blocks to those owned by Petroceltic in Algeria have been acquired by BP, and Petroceltic is expected to announce a major tie-up with a drilling partner.

Petroceltic shares, which fell sharply late last year when its Tunisian prospects disappointed, have traded around 12.5 pence this year.

Dolmen's second most favoured among the Irish-based oil companies is Sterling Energy, an oil and gas producer with a small exploration arm.

Its purchase last year of assets in the Gulf of Mexico has helped it to tap surging energy prices and boost revenues.

Meanwhile, by farming out its production licences, Sterling shares hit a high of stg20.5 pence last July.

The shares have since slipped to stg18pence as investors wait for the execution of plans to ramp up production from Mauritania early next year.

Circle Oil, which came to the market last year, attracted investor attention after its deal with China Shine to develop its huge prospects in Namibia.

According to brokers, the deal means that it will not have to raise huge amounts of money from shareholders.

The shares have slipped back to around 35 pence since the summer as investors wait for more news on its Namibian development.

According to Dolmen, the highest-risk share remains Providence Resources.

We have greater confidence in Petroceltic in Algeria than Providence in offshore Nigeria and offshore Ireland, said Draper. Their strategy is not quite clear to investors, and we are just not comfortable with them.

Providence last week announced plans to carry out a major seismic study with Island Oil and Gas of its offshore Ireland prospects.

Meanwhile, shares in Iraq-focused Petrel have traded in line with hopes that chief executive David Horgan's visits to Iraq will deliver contracts for the company.

Petrel shares spiked to stg100 pence last month when it announced it had won a contract to develop an oil field in Iraq.

The shares have traded around stg60 pence since winning a second and significant contract to examine data in the Mesopotamia area of the country.

According to market sources, Petrel could be about to announce a deal with a Japanese trading company which is seeking to acquire oil.

Petroceltic

The main focus over the past few weeks for John Craven, the chief executive of Petroceltic, has been to prepare the company to start drilling in the Algerian Sahara by early next year. Getting a road laid across the desert to enable the start of drilling is just part of the work.

The company is appraising existing oil and gas discoveries across a 10,800 square kilometre area in the country after nine discoveries were made on the block since the 1960s.

Petroceltic will probably drill two wells initially in Algeria, as part of plans to drill up to seven wells in the next 24 months across Algeria, Italy, Ireland and Tunisia.

In Italy, Petroceltic has attracted interest from Italian oil companies for its offshore interests there. Its main Irish licence is in a gas prospect in offshore Donegal, north-east of the Corrib discovery. Craven said the company planned to drill there next year.

Following its initial disappointment in Tunisia, it has been offered a prospect there and may also drill there next year. There is a nice newsflow ahead of us, he said.

Petrel Resources

Petrel's David Horgan recalls how difficult it was to raise funding to develop licences before the war in Iraq.

We had a funding at stg3 pence and John Teeling was one of the few people to see the opportunities there, said Horgan.

Horgan's hard work has paid off with the award of two contracts from the Iraqi oil ministry in recent weeks.

Whether the contracts are the doorway to Petrel winning major business in Iraq in future years remains to be seen.

Island Oil and Gas

Paul Griffiths, who formed Island Oil and Gas in 2003, raised stg8 million privately and brought it to the AIM in December last year at stg40 pence. It now has a mixture of private investors and institutions, including Gartmore.

Management owns about 30 per cent. It was trading last week at stg60 pence.

Griffiths worked alongside Petroceltic's Craven at Gulf Oil when the company discovered Ireland's first significant oilfield in the 1980s. Though mostly focused on Ireland, Island is also seeking a licence in France.

We understand how to do business here, said Griffiths.

The company has numerous interests in offshore Irish prospects but generates its main revenue stream from its 12.5 per cent stake in the Seven Heads gas field. Unlike Ramco, Island has no debt tied up in the field