.

News today.

300K US$ up front then 300K US$ per Bcf, seem to be getting their ducks in a row and concentrating on the main projects and disposing of the others for cash.

A deal with Enquest would be good to divest the Dutch North Sea blocks in exchange for a confirmed greater percentage in Slovenia, IMO.

Spud late this month for the PG-11 drill in Slovenia ?

http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/22713/ascent-sells-stake-in-hungarian-gas-field--22713.html


Ascent sells stake in Hungarian gas field

Thursday, November 04, 2010 by Ian Lyall

Proceeds from the sale to Hungarian Horizon Energy and London-listed JKX Oil & Gas will be used to develop the companys European assets

Ascent Resources (LON:AST) said it has completed the sale of a 20.2 per cent stake in the Nys Szatm permits in Hungary, which contains the Gbeha-1 gas discovery.

The company will initially receive US$300,000 as well as pro rata payments of US$300,000 per billion cubic (Bcf) gas once production exceeds 1 Bcf.

Ascent's managing director, Jeremy Eng, said, "The exploration licence for the area has now expired and as the production from the GH-1 well is operated and produced by HHE and JKX through its neighbouring field facilities, it makes good sense for Ascent and the other minority partners to monetise this discovery rather than to wait for the gas to be produced.

"As we had mentioned previously, the benefit of 3-D seismic was instrumental in making this discovery and the PetroHungaria partners farmed out the Panhandle area to HHE and JKX for the cost of the 3-D seismic acquisition."

Proceeds from the sale to Hungarian Horizon Energy and London-listed JKX Oil & Gas (LON:JKX), which operate the nearby Hajd gas field, will be used to develop the companys European assets.

Ascent sold its Swiss business earlier this year, but has the right to back into the project at cost.

It also has a promising oil project in Italy and must decide whether to use or lose an oil exploration licence in the Netherlands.

However, the Petişovci-Lovaszi gas project in Slovenia is crucial to its immediate prospects of the company and could transform it completely.

The publication of a report by RPS Energy provided independent corroboration of Ascents own work by confirming a P50 gas-in-place estimate of 412 billion cubic feet.

If the reserves are proved up, then Petişovci-Lovaszi will be one of the biggest onshore gas fields in Europe.



.

Fox Davies comment :

"Ascent Resources (BUY, 0.20) (LON:AST, 4.75p, ▲ (8.57%)) has completed the sale of its 20.167% interest in the western part of the Nys Szatm permits in Hungary, known as the Panhandle, which contains the Gbeha-1 ('GH-1') gas discovery. Ascent will initially receive a cash consideration of US$300,000 and additionally pro rata payments, net to Ascent, of US$300,000 per Bcf will be made once the cumulative production from GH-1 exceeds 1 Bcf. The other minority partners in the licence, DualEx Nys Inc. and Swede Resources AB have also divested their interests on similar terms. The proceeds will be used for the development of Ascent's European portfolio, which includes assets in Italy, Slovenia and Hungary a nd in particular the Petisovci-Lovaszi project area on which the Company recently announced an independently verified P50 estimate of gas-in-place of 412 Bcf. The sale of the interest was to existing project partners Hungarian Horizon Energy ('HHE') and JKX plc ('JKX') who operate the nearby Hajd gas field, where the Gbeha gas is processed and sold to the main pipeline. The Gbeha-1 well was drilled in August 2009 and tested gas from the first of two gas zones targeted for completion, at a rate of 3.74MMscfd. It eventually went on production in August 2010 and average production through the first half of September was 1.66MMscfd.

Comment: Another good, albeit small, move by Ascent in rationalising the portfolio. This should help to focus managements attention on material projects that can deliver real value and also clarifies the positioning the Ascent stock in the mind of investors."

http://www.iii.co.uk/articles/articledisplay.jsp?section=Markets&article_id=10121592

Shares in Ascent Resources (AST) were on the rise on Thursday after it wrapped up the sales of its 20% interest in the Gbehaza-1 gas discovery in Hungary.

The European-focused oil and gas explorer is set to earn $300,000 in cash through the sale to project partners Horizon Energy and JKX, and will earn an additional pro rata payment of $300,000 per billion cubic feet once production from GH-1 exceeds one billion cubic feet.

The firm's shares were up over 8% at 4.75p.

Fellow minority partners in the Panhandle licence have also divested their interests on similar terms, Ascent added.

The well, which was first drilled in August 2009, eventually went on production in August 2010 and averaged production levels of 1.66 million standard cubic feet per day.

The company will plough the funds into the development of its European portfolio, which includes assets in Italy, Slovenia and Hungary and in particular the Petisovci-Lovaszi project area which is believed to house up to 412 billion cubic feet of gas.

The Pg-11 well is set to be drilled this month, the company said in its last update, after 3D seismic surveys collected over the last year identified two sets of reservoirs.

Managing director Jeremy End said it made "good sense" for Ascent and the other minority partners to monetise the discovery now rather than to wait for the gas to be produced, following the expiration of the Panhandle exploration licence.

I am looking for near 100 US$ a barrel by the year end, and a range of 110 US$ to 140 US$ a barrel later in 2011.



http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/22730/oil-prices-rally-after-federal-reserve-announces-600bn-stimulus-22730.html

Oil prices rally after Federal Reserve announces $600bn stimulus

Thursday, November 04, 2010 by Sergei Balashov

Oil prices rallied today after the details of the next round of quantitative easing unveiled by the Federal Reserve yesterday raised hopes of more rapid economic growth and sent the US dollar south.

The Fed announced a further US$600 billion in Treasury purchases through June 2011 to drive up inflation and slash the unemployment rate, which currently stands at nearly 10%.

Should the Fed succeed in its attempt to speed up the ongoing recovery, energy demand would likely grow, pushing up crude oil prices.

The money supply will also grow by US$600 billion, which the Fed will print to purchase the bonds, to further weaken the US dollar.

A weaker greenback makes the dollar-denominated oil cheaper for holders of other currencies, lifting demand.

The International Energy Agency (IEA) expects oil prices to inflate in the event that the G20 countries dont make good on their promise to cut fossil fuel subsidies, which would reduce oil demand by 10% by 2035.

This was reported by the Financial Times, which obtained a copy of the IEAs World Energy Outlook Report, which will be officially released next Tuesday.

The IEA estimates that such a decline would push down the average oil price from inflation adjusted US$135/barrel to US$113/barrel by 2035, compared to the current price of about US$86/barrel.

The IEA noted that the pledges made by the G20 and the Copenhagen climate conference are yet to be backed by specific measures.

US light, sweet crude for December delivery climbed to US$86.20/barrel, while January crude last traded at US$86.86/barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange (NYMEX).

On the ICE Exchange, December Brent Crude reached US$87.86/barrel. Brent for January delivery stood at US$88.05/barrel.

Cairn Energy (LON:CNE) led the blue chip oil and gas producers with a 2% gain.

BP (LON:BP) rose marginally, while fellow supermajor Shell (LON:RDSB) advanced 1.5%, as did BG Group (LON:BG).

Tullow Oil (LON:TLW) climbed 1%.

Oil and gas engineering firms did well today with Amec (LON:AMEC) tacking on 1.8% and Petrofac (LON:PFC) advancing 2.1%.

Midcaps followed the trend. Salamander Energy (LON:SMDR) led the way, advancing 4.5%. Premier Oil (LON:PMO) and Melrose Resources (LON:MRS) added 3.5% and 3% respectively. Heritage Oil (LON:HOIL) tacked on 2.2%.

Dragon Oil (LON:DGO) and Soco international (LON:SIA) climbed 1.8% and 1.2% respectively.

JKX Oil & Gas (LON:JKX) rose marginally.

Wood Group (LON:WG) advanced 2.5%. Another services company Wellstream Holdings (LON:WSM) stood just above the opening level.

North Sea oilfield developer Xcite Energy (LON:XEL) was among the top risers in the sector with a 10.5% gain. European focussed oil and gas exploration and production company Ascent Resources (LON:AST) followed, surging 8.5%.

Checking on line limits :

MAX BUY = 100K @ 5.3p

MAX SELL = 250K @ 4.93p


L2 is 5 v 5 @ 4.75 / 5.5


Looks quite strong.

Just can't get excited about this at all....if I was them : I would sell all assets and start again....too much a scattergun approach...not good for such a small company.....

so what are you posting on here for then??? you dont know what your talking about

Made a loss on this one....promises a lot everwhere but the sp never gets going...hope it changes....but if you don't like what I post : just too bad....!...

Have you not been reading up on this company? what about all the plans on drilling?

We've had this time and time before.....and ends in disappointment.....better value elsewhere.

bye bye then....

could next week be more news week???????????

Well, there is a chance now the Enquest deal is done.

morning Proselenes, yes hopefully they"l start coming thick and fast!

http://proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/22835/slovenia-success-could-transform-ascent-resources-22835.html


Ascent Resources (LON:AST) is a stock many people struggle to understand.

There are too many moving parts to this oil and gas play, its critics claim.

While this might have been true in the past as boss Jeremy Eng amassed more 20 promising assets, the story recently became a very simple one.
The publication of a report by RPS Energy on the companys Petiovci-Lovaszi project area in Slovenia was the game changer.

It provided independent corroboration of Ascents own work by confirming a P50 gas-in-place estimate of 412 billion cubic feet.

If the reserves are proved up, then Petiovci-Lovaszi will be one of the bigger onshore gas fields in Europe.

More than that, the RPS report should help filter out the noise and focus investor attention on this one, potentially company transforming asset.

Of course there is more to Ascent than Petiovci-Lovaszi.

It has the right to back into a former Swiss project it sold earlier this year, it must decide whether to use or lose a gas exploration licence in the Netherlands and has a gas producing asset in eastern Hungary.

However Petiovci-Lovaszi is crucial to its immediate prospects, so we better take a closer look at it.

Investors make the mistake of thinking the Slovenian project is something of a punt, a high risk exploration play.

Nothing could be further from the truth. It is actually a development story.

The area has been drilled extensively. First in the 1940s by a fuel-hungry German army looking for oil and then in the 1980s.

Petiovci-Lovaszis gas is what finance director Simon Cunningham describes as being on the conventional side of tight.

By that he means the well Pg-11 is expected to flow without the help of any of the state-of-the art extraction techniques associated with tight gas.

However, with the help of horizontal wells or maybe even fraccing the flow rate will improve markedly.

There is a ready market for the gas Petiovci-Lovaszi could provide Slovenia with 10 years supply and cut entirely Slovenia's reliance on Russia for this important source of energy.

Meanwhile, both the infrastructure and processing facilities are in place, while the political will is also there if it leaves Slovenia self-sufficient.

This just leaves the small matter of getting the gas out of the ground.

Drilling on the first well at Petiovci-Lovaszi begins later this month and the evaluation programme, which will include extensive coring amd specialist wireline logging, is expected to take around 40 days to complete.

Ascents experts will then compile and interpret the results. There ought to be enough data to optimise the geological modelling over the entire project area.

With such a lot of work in store, Cunningham isnt committing to an exact release date for the results from Pg-11, saying only that they will be available at some point in the first quarter of next year.

However the information will be pivotal to the firms future prospects. Once management has the data it can decide how it finances the project, with the capital costs estimated at between 100 and 150 million euros.

One way to bankroll the potential 28 hole programme at Petiovci-Lovaszi might be to find a farm-in partner.

But Ascent doesnt really want to dilute down its 75 per cent stake in the project (the Slovenian state national oil company and the semi-state company Petrol jointly own the other quarter share).

So it may look to debt-finance Petiovci-Lovaszi. Cunningham says there are sources of funding out there including possibly the European Bank of Reconstruction and Development as a possible partner.

Farming in is about risk mitigation and funding but also provides an access to technical expertise, the Ascent finance director said.

It is a double edged sword. Obviously you get someone to carry you through the drilling programme.

But it (Petişovci-Lovaszi) is fairly large, instantly producible and therefore the returns are very, very strong.

We would want a very good farm-in deal. And if we cant get one, we would look at debt funding.

If you look at what we have done in the past, we would normally have farmed in at this time.

That we havent is a reflection of the fact we are definitely bullish on this project.

If you want to transform yourself from a 25 million market cap company to a 250 million market cap and if you are going to do it organically you going to have to take a large project forward with a large interest.

We see this first well (Pg-11) as a low risk exercise and the opportunities it opens up in terms of the funding and the farm-out are worth the risk.

We are already in negotiations about the funding. The decisions on funding will depend on the initial flow rate from this well.

However, even if it doesnt flow conventionally then it wont be the be all and end all. It is very much about understanding the field.

One senses that Cunningham is quietly optimistic, particularly given what Ascent already knows about Petişovci-Lovaszi.

It is now a case of convincing the market of the projects development potential.

Where we are was drilled for oil and gas back in the 1940s by the Germans, he explains.

Essentially they drilled the shallow oil horizons, but deeper is the tight gas target between 2,000 and 3,000 metres.

Gas has been flowed from those reservoirs back in the 1980s. In the old Yugoslavia they drilled down with some prehistoric completion techniques and flowed the gas.

So 10Bcf has been flowed from the horizons we are chasing. So it is not as if there is no production history.

Essentially it (Pg-11) is very much a technical exercise. This is tight gas, but a borderline conventional/ unconventional play if that makes sense. We are a borderline tight play.

In the US the technology to stimulate gas from tight sands has evolved significantly in the last 20 years and is now bread and butter stuff in the industry.

So what we are doing is not cutting edge. It has been done before, just not in this field.

We are looking at this Pg-11 well and as far as we are concerned we expect it to be a conventional producer.

But thats not the main reason for this drill. The project will be a good project if it flows conventionally.

However if we can bring this unconventional stimulation to it, the project is significant. We are talking a multiple of your flow rate using unconventional stimulation.

As I mentioned earlier, there are other projects of interest in the Ascent portfolio that are perhaps the icing on the cake.

Switzerland is a case in point. Ascent sold its operation there in April to eCORP Europe for 8 million euros. However it retains the right to acquire 45 per cent of any discovery from the Hermrigen 2, Essertines 2 and Linden 2 appraisal wells by paying its share of the drilling costs.

Cunningham calls Hermrigen a "no risk look at a 150 billion cubic feet gas prospect.

It is a big target, we always wanted to drill it, he adds.

We are very pleased with the deal we have done. We received our money upfront and if it is successful we get to back into it. It is a free exploration option.

Elsewhere the group has the promising Latina Valley oil project in Italy and two offshore blocks in the Netherlands, where it must decide by Christmas whether to bring in a farm-in partner, or surrender the licence.

In each area including Slovenia, we are operating in a low risk regulatory environment, not deep water Africa, Cunningham points out.

We are not off the coast of Ghana or Indonesia. We are in an area where you can be fairly robust in drilling with a low risk of interference. We can drill cheaply in a safe regulatory environment.

Bit of interest today, I thought the interview (earlier post) was quite good and it does look like PG-11 is due to spud later this month.

yes agree with you if all goes to timetable hopefully stay blue today!!!!!

could do with some news to help push us on

nice blue day even without news!! onwards and up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!