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

I bought back a few shares on Friday with cash that I can afford to lose, as I couldn't stand to be out of it if something huge really happened, looks like major contracts are a little way away, atleast until July time, but speculation on who will win the contract will probably push these up near 75 pence. Only 4 companies bid for the contract and all of them small, hopefully the points made above by piston broke, will all work in Petrel's favour to gain the all important contract.



Interesting article below, enjoy. What do you make of the fact that they have already brought other companies aboard to help them?


May 23, 2004

Irish oil minnow tenders for lucrative Iraqi deals



PETREL Resources, a small listed Irish oil exploration company, is one of only four firms to have submitted tenders to design and operate two large oil fields in northern Iraq but David Horgan, its managing director, has been advised not to return there until the security situation improves, writes Ciaran Hancock.

Petrel, which is quoted on the Alternative Investment Market in London and has a market value of 21m (31.29m) has brought subsidiaries of General Electric and Halliburton on board to provide equipment and design skills.The winning tender is expected to be announced by the Iraqi Ministry of Oil in about two months.

Horgan returned from Iraq earlier this month and said ministry officials had advised that he shouldnt return for the time being. Its now not recommended to go into the field. Foreigners are being targeted there and being Irish is no guarantee that you wont be shot.

Petrel has submitted tenders for fields at Khurmala, part of the Kirkuk oil field, one of the biggest in the world. It has also tendered for Hamrin, north of Baghdad. Khurmala has reserves of 2 billion barrels and is expected to produce 120,000 barrels a day at full production. Hamrin, meanwhile, has reserves of 1 billion barrels and is expected to produce 100,000 barrels a day at full tilt.

Horgan said it could be up to three years before either field reached full production.

Three other oil minnows are believed to have tendered for the contracts but no oil majors have lodged bids.

The tendering process was delayed several times by the deteriorating security situation. The oil ministry was also looted after the fall of Saddam Hussein and a number of maps and other key documents were destroyed.

Petrel has been scouting for opportunities in Iraq for a number of years and Horgan estimates the company has invested about 3m to date.

Horgan acknowledged that a number of hurdles remain. One is security, which is now the chief concern of foreign companies. America is also due to hand over power to a local administration by the end of June, after which the new government could decide to scupper the tendering process and start again.

This seems unlikely though. Theyre very serious about this and want to get the process moving as soon as possible.

Oil production in Iraq has collapsed since the start of the second Gulf war. The country is now estimated to produce about 1m barrels a day for export, down from 3.5m in 1990. Oil production has collapsed and the industry has undergone a tough period, said Horgan.

Hi Tokyo...was the above the Sunday Times article...or from somewhere else...rgds..pb

Piston Broke - It was from the Sunday Times, what do you make of it?

On one hand it says get out until the end of June - No decision until then, so perhaps a drop in share price, but only 4 small oil companies put in tenders, so even without Petrels advantages they have a 25% change of winning - I'm starting to believe they could atleast win one.

Good luck to all

check out sonoran energy,they recently put in tenders for these contracts after buying another company from the region.fairly sharp fall today,but i`m still keeping mine
dexter

As the outlook seems so good, ie even if they don't get a contract (and I can't see that after the work they have done), they still have the results of all the work mapping etc, any other company doesn't want to repeat the time consuming work already done, so I am holding on with money I can afford (not want) to lose, I know it is risky so I only bought 1250 shares but if it pays off I will be ok and if it crashes I will hold in case they come back up. Not the best strategy I know, but that would be a "high" interest account!

Chris

I agree that the outlook is possibly very bright, but my experience is the Stock Markets do not like uncertainty...Having read the Times article, I took the call today to get out at 35p and took only 100 profit, but my view is that they will now fall before starting a recovery in about a month...I may lose shedloads by getting out but uncertainty causes shares to fall even more so than bad news. I am not in anyway saying I know it all, but my plan is to buy in again in about a month when I fel they may be 25p ish...be lucky all you Pets

after contacting petrel about the situation in iraq,i recieved this reply;
we are pushing on with our work without interruption-but without going into the field(on the advice of the ministry).
our geological sampling team is now with the jordanian NRA on the jordanian side of the border,taking samples from the field as well as cores.
our engineering team is finalising the third tender.we have world class partners(GE,haliburton&caterpillar groups.
i think this sounds quite positive,what does anyone else think?

dexter.

If their taking cores (from this I assume reserviour cores via a drill rig) their serious about the work in Iraq as it's not cheap.

Additionally if they are indeed drilling on the Jordonian side and the reserviors are connected I would suggest they can suck from that side and square up some sort of profit share with the Jordanians??

PET - Bounced 21% in 4 days, buyers back in for the ride up to 4!!;

Lets hope PET hit 4, lots of buyers coming back and PRM starting to come back as well, bought at 121p a while ago.
Chris

hi all,
don`t know if you`ve read it ,but an article on
www.lemminginvester.com/petrelresources makes interesting reading .
let me know what you think.
dexter

Hi Dexter

I've a bit invested in these but I can't get on this page - are you sure this is the correct web address? You couldn't paste article in here please?

Regards

gildph

Hi Dexter,
I also have a bit in here but am unable to get this page up, go on, give us an idea, (tic) good or bad?
Chris

I got onto it by searching for lemminginvetor on google (http:)
http://www.lemminginvestor.com/PetrelResources.html

Article is 27th 2004 so maybe a bit dated now. The risks are highlighted but what makes theM a firm hold for me is the key advantges we have even if we don't get any of the contracts, in particular

- the data we've accumulated and the relationship bulit up with the IRaq Oil administration which will be invaluable to whoever gets the contracts, especially the big boys

Also note a private investor Douglas Wright (c2% of company), whom I believe is an actuary, estimates the stock to be around 10.....

Draw your own conclusions and as always DYOR

Sorry I meant to say 27th of "March" 2004 was date of article

morning all,
sorry about the wrong web address!!,it was the bit about the data the`ve collected that caught my eye, so it does look very promising whatever happens. even if we don`t grt to 10 we should be in for a nice little earner.
still gutted about last night!!
dexter

This is good news.

Petrel Resources PLC
15 June 2004

Petrel Resources plc ('Petrel'), the oil and gas exploration company, is pleased
to announce the acceleration of its Iraqi activities. Today, Petrel, which is
backed by world class suppliers of oil & gas processing equipment, power
generation facilities and support services, submitted the third of three tenders
to the Iraqi Ministry of Oil.


Despite difficult circumstances work continues in the Ministry of Oil. The
tenders are to develop three existing oilfields. Oil revenues will underwrite
the recovery of Iraqi sovereignty, damage repair and development and Iraqi
officials are working hard to drive these projects forward.


The Ministry's budgets are approved and the funding for the first phases of the
work is already in place. These funds are for cash contracts, though a future
sovereign government may convert them to risk-sharing arrangements.


The oil development projects Petrel has tendered for are the Khurmala Dome at
Kirkuk, Hamrin and the Subba / Luhais joint field development.



The Khurmala Dome was submitted in April. This is a proposal to
design, build and commission a 120,000 barrel daily facility. The reserves
are proven, but there is no surface engineering on this dome.



The tender to develop the 120,000 barrel daily Hamrin field in
central Iraq was submitted in May. These reserves are also proven.



The updated tender for the Subba and Luhais joint field development
of 120,000 barrels daily was submitted today, June 15th. There is surface
engineering in place here, but it has been extensively damaged.



A general Western Desert geological sampling programme is also underway. Petrel
has a joint venture with the Jordanian Natural Resources Authority giving Petrel
access to priceless well core samples and data, as well as the ability to
extensively sample key outcropping rocks in the Arabian Western Desert,
encompassing plays in Iraq, Jordan and Saudi Arabia. Seismic interpretation,
mapping and evaluating satellite imagery is ongoing.



Commenting on the acceleration of Petrel's activities in Iraq, David Horgan,
Managing Director of Petrel Resources plc, said:



'The end of sanctions opens up the Iraqi oil opportunity, yet the majors are
standing off. Petrel aims to fill the gap, in partnership with world class
suppliers. Though the general security situation is challenging, Petrel staff
have encountered no hostility. We continue to be generously received by Iraqis
of all sects, political views and positions. Technocrats and business contacts
guide us on how to minimise hazards. The excellent professional managers grow
in confidence and policy-making independence. Our Iraqi work is uninterrupted.'



Contacts:

David Horgan Tel: + 353 87 292 3500
Jim Finn Tel: + 353 18332833

Redleaf Communications
Emma Kane/James White Tel: 020 7955 1410

Rowan Dartington & Co. Limited
Barrie Newton Tel: 0117 933 0000


This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange

when are we going to see pennies turning into pounds????? any guesses anyone????

when the troops pull out,and things get back to normal.

Petrel Resources are covered in the Money section of this Saturdays Times. Stock Watch gives a description of the RNS released this week on the third bid and describes the local workforce and it's non-political profiel in the region.

Unfortunately I couldn't find a link to it on the times online web site.