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In an attempt to cut down the header page,i've transferred some of the older news to Page1 post No.3.

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http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201111020700081674R
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201111150700250723S
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201112010705051251T
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201201170700146472V
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201201230701479690V
http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4323758
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201204170700164488B
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http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4430164
http://www.investegate.co.uk/afren-plc-%28afr%29/rns/significant-new-seychelles-3d-seismic-programme/201212120700052973T/
http://www.investegate.co.uk/afren-plc--afr-/rns/2013-half-yearly-results/201308230700063334M/
http://www.investegate.co.uk/afren-plc--afr-/rns/ogo-drilling-and-resources-update/201311190700083404T/
http://www.investegate.co.uk/afren-plc--afr-/rns/trading-statement-and-operations-update/201401280700096280Y/
http://www.investegate.co.uk/afren-plc--afr-/rns/interim-management-statement/201405200700135209H/
http://www.investegate.co.uk/afren-plc--afr-/rns/interim-management-statement/201410300700116483V/
http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4942625
http://www.moneyam.com/action/news/showArticle?id=4943375

Afren pre-tax losses have widen

African oil and gas independent Afren plc posts 2008 pre-tax loss of $56 million compared with $39 million in 2007.

NAR 1 ..... not my thread, so do not have access ..... on the other hand, suggest you add 200 dma to complete

Afren

Having more than trebled in the space of three weeks, shares in Afren, the West African-focused oil explorer, were vulnerable to profit-taking. What prompted yesterdays 12 per cent dip was a three-word caveat in the companys full-year results statement: Afren plans to produce up to 50,000 barrels of oil a day by the end of next year from its Ebok field, offshore Nigeria, subject to financing.

That qualification notably absent from the update on Ebok less than two weeks ago is significant, given that Afren had year-end net debt last year of $287 million (195 million), $86 million of which it is due to pay back in 2009.

With analysts estimating that the development of Ebok will cost around 100 million, Afren falls into the category of a junior explorer with promising reserves but insufficient funds to exploit them. Further, having raised 119 million from shareholders this time last year at 125p a share more than three times yesterdays price it may find them reluctant to commit more.

A recently stable and rising oil price should work in Afrens favour. So, too, should bid activity in the sector: predatory interest in Venture Production and BowLeven, Dana Petroleums purchase of Bow Valley Energy, and Premier Oils swoop on Oilexcos North Sea operations suggest that corporate buyers are not expecting oil prices to fall back below Decembers low.

Afren also has powerful partners. Several of its lenders, notably BNP Paribas and Standard Bank, are big shareholders, and it has a $500 million African joint venture with Sojitz, of Japan. That Afren has started producing oil from Nigeria within two years from a standing start is testimony to its ability to move fast. However, at 37p, down 5p, first-time buyers should wait until its funding plans are farther advanced. Pass.

so they did speak with something of a forked tongue then

U like these mr Cynic?

not at the moment ..... been nibbled through being greedy

Blue by the end of today. Plus after 35% up yesterday on gasol its up another 17.58% this morning, wil be 10p again.

I think the main reason for yesterdays dumping of stock was simply investors were
given the impression that some sort funding for E Bok was done and dusted. The
realisation that this was not the case caused all the uncertainty,but it is as a long
term hold something special.
aimho
cyril

YEAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! BLUE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Afren evaluating Keta block offshore Ghana

Offshore staff

LONDON -- Afren is undertaking technical evaluation of the Keta block offshore Ghana incorporating the results of the Cuda-1x well. The company also is evaluating further prospects and considering options for drilling on the block.

The Cuda-1x exploration well, drilled by the drillship Transocean Deepwater Discovery, was spudded in November 2008. The well was targeting a Cretaceous structure expected to contain 325 MMbbl of mean prospective resources in a setting comparable to those successfully proven by the recent Jubilee and Odum discoveries in the country. Unfortunately operations were terminated due to abnormally high pressures that were encountered at the top of the Cretaceous. The primary objective of the well remains untested and is still considered highly prospective, the company says.

040/06/2009

blanche ..... when was this charming bit of news released? ..... after market close?

======

found it ..... it's in the results so will already have been discounted

Found it trawling around African news sites this afternoon. Obviously didn't read the results as in depth as you. Serves me right! Should be an up day tomorrow finished quite well late on today if not blue. Nice glass vino blanco now i think.

More exploration upside to come from this company yet, they may have some debt to pay off, but the income coming very soon will be enormous.....and they have some crude hedged way above current levels....!.

In the short term momentum has it seems to have left this stock,more now a longer term investment.A worthy company to do so imho?
cyril

Most oilies are slightly down at the moment....AFR as well, but this stock has potential....no doubt about that !.

April 07, 2009

Afren Eyes Super Independent Status In Africa But Investors Seek Reassurance On Financing Of Ebok Project





2008 was a transformational year for AIM-quoted Afren plc. Or perhaps that should read another transformational year for the African E&P because this is a company that has set a cracking pace since its IPO in 2005. The AIM firm has met its IPO goals: building a diversified asset base that stretches across six West African countries, delivered first production according to timetable and has positioned itself to play a key role in the monetization of West Africas vast but dormant gas resource.
2008 was transformational because it saw the company bring the Okoro Setu field in Nigeria onstream in June, thereby beating its 15,000 barrel per day production guidance for the year. Those maiden production barrels saw the company post revenues of US$42.5 million in 2008 and a pre-tax loss of US$56 million. The company also acquired Devon Energys former assets in Cote dIvoire, adding another 5,000 boepd to the production tally in September to take the year-end run rate to 27,000 boepd. And, perhaps most importantly, there was the appraisal of the Ebok discovery in Nigeria, which now looks set to be a material 52 million barrel development with upside potential of double that with first production of 50,000 bpd in 2010.

As Galib Virani, head of acquisitions and investor relations, pointed out at oilbarrel.coms 24th conference in the City of London last week, this would put Afren on track for an exit rate of 65-70,000 boepd by the end of 2010, a number that puts it in line with City darling Tullow Oil and ahead of E&P stalwarts like Cairn Energy, Venture Production, Premier Oil and Dana Petroleum. This is impressive stuff for a company that was only founded four years ago. Chief executive Osman Shahenshah said 2009 looks set to be another year of change for the company, marking a new paradigm for Afren as the Ebok development provides a visible 2010 exit rate of over 65,000 boepd and puts the company well on its way towards its ambition to become a super independent in Africa.

But this ambition comes with the usual health warning that is a symptom of these credit-choked times: subject to financing. Although Afren removed US$70.9 million of debt from its balance sheet last year after the 100 per cent take up of an early Convertible Bonds conversion offer, this is still a highly leveraged balance sheet with net debt to equity at the end of the year of 82 per cent. Having drawn down the majority of the Okoro facility, total debt at the year end amounted to US$405.2 million of which about US$86 million is repayable this year.

The company had year-end cash reserves of US$117.7 million, subject to short term restrictions in Nigeria and Ghana. In Nigeria, for example, there are restrictions on how cash can be used: cash flows generated from the Okoro field can only be used on field expenditure and the Okoro loan facility until the completion of certain start-up tests in Q2 2009. At the end of March, the company had a cash balance of around US$60 million.

There is some comfort for investors, however. The company is strongly cash generative, with a 43 per cent operating netback at an oil price of US$40 per barrel. And a significant of that production is hedged: 100 per cent of CI-11 oil production at an average US$85 per barrel to mid 2012 and 14 per cent of Okoro production at an average US$54 per barrel to end 2010. Although the company said it is monitoring its short term cash requirements with care, it does expect to have sufficient financial resources to cover its budgeted expenditures through 2009.

Investors should also take comfort from the fact that Afren has, to date, delivered on its promises. It hit its production target when Okoro Setu came onstream in mid-2008: that field, which was delivered at breakneck speed, just two years from farm-in to first oil, is now outperforming expectations by around 47 per cent. In Cote dIvoire, the company has delivered a 10 per cent uplift in production since assuming operatorship. It has put in place the building blocks of a pan-African portfolio, with projects in six countries, and is stitching together the commercial alliances to play a role in the monetization of West African gas, with co-operation agreements signed with E.ON Ruhrgas, African LNG Holdings Limited, EdF and Gasol.

And now there is Ebok, which looks to make a material addition to the portfolio. This is an undeveloped oilfield, 50 km offshore in 135 ft of water in an area surrounded by producing ExxonMobil fields that pump some 850,000 bpd. Ebok was discovered in the late 1960s by Mobil and appraised in the 1970s. Afren drilled the Ebok-4 appraisal well in late 2008, a well that exceeded pre-drill expectations. The well encountered a total gross oil column of 284 ft in high quality reservoir sands and produced 1,450 bpd under drill stem testing. The oil was 20 to 25-degree API.

An independent assessment of the in-place and recoverable oil reserves confirm a P50 oil-in-place number of 148 million barrels, with recoverable reserves of 52 million barrels with additional upside of 54 million barrels in the Ebok West and Ebok North Fault Blocks. A field development plan will be submitted shortly, envisaging an early production system that will deliver fast-track production of 25,000 bpd in early 2010 with full-field development of 50,000 bpd by year-end.

This is a promising development but investors will be keen to see this project, so key to the companys projected growth trajectory from 2010, fully financed sooner rather than later. This is a highly geared balance sheet and these are tough times for debtors but, for now, this looks like a company with the kind of quality asset base and management expertise to continue to deliver through the lean times.

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A broker's note not sure how recent it is

'The company has a number of major banks as shareholders as well as the Sojitz Corporation, with which it has a JV that aims to invest US$500m in energy projects. Afren successfully raised 119m through an equity raise at 125p last year, and with its share price languishing at around 35p it is fair to say that this route is unlikely to be an option. So what alternatives are there?
It uses its existing cash and cashflow to fund the development.
It secures another debt facility similar to Okoro/Setu, secured against the asset.
Farms out an interest to a major.
Makes this the first JV deal with Sojitz.
It is likely that Afren will be prudent and maintain its cash and use cashflow to pay down debt in the short term.
Given the state of the financial markets and the interest payable on debt, we do not think this is an attractive option either.
Farm-outs take time to negotiate and do not generally favour those that want quick deals, so this option also seems unlikely.
Therefore, the Sojitz partnership would appear to be the most likely option to fund Eboks development. We feel that this will be the first project to be announced under the terms of the JV.
All of this is very premature; Afren is still at the early stages of determining how Ebok is developed and this will ultimately dictate how much it will cost.
We continue coverage with a BUY recommendation and a target price of 103p. This target price is derived from the NAV of Afrens producing 2P reserve base. Our oil price assumptions are: 2009 US$45/bbl; 2010 US$60/bbl; and 2011 US$65/bbl'

Lets see if AFR can close 'Blue' seems it has recovered very well on the intra day chart.

Placing of stock annouced this am, could be as much as 50% dilution?
cyril