< "> edit this post http://www.investegate.co.uk/afren-plc-%28afr%29/rns/trading-statement-and-operations-update/201301210700069619
http://www.investegate.co.uk/afren-plc--afr-/rns/2012-full-year-results/201303250700107200A/

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

http://www.oil-price.net/index.php?lang=en
http://www.ft.com/home/uk

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
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201205140700212304D
http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201205210700407032D
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 saw its stock surge 10pc on Wednesday as a bunch of traders who bet on potential takeovers bought the shares and spread rumours that a variety of bidders, including US giant Exxon Mobil and China's Sinopec, were preparing offers for the FTSE 250 company.

The latest company to be named by these traders as a bidder for Afren was mining giant Glencore, up 3.9 to 392.6p.

However, that tale is incorrect, according to people familiar with the matter. "I have never even heard of Afren," claimed one senior Glencore insider. Afren shed 8.3 to 143.1p.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/markets/marketreport/9828001/Afren-falls-as-takeover-talk-scotched.html

Which proves my point!

clever bu**er ;)

Good volume,almost 11m and a rise of just under 4%?

StockMarketWire.com
JP Morgan Cazenove has reviewed it stance on the UK Exploration & Production sector today highlighting the fact that the sector had underperformed the broader market up to the end of the year. This reappraisal has led the US bank to downgrade a number of stocks in its coverage including SOCO International (LON:SIA) , Serica Energy (LON:SQZ), Genel Energy (LON:GENL) and Afren (LON:AFR) which have all been downgraded to "neutral" from "overweight". The City broker cut its price targets across the board reflecting its downbeat near-term outlook, which included: SOCO International - reduced to 418p (from 420p), Serica Energy - reduced to 47p (from 50p), Genel Energy reduced to 940p (from 1,060p) and Afren reduced to 195p (from 210p) In a note issued to clients today, analyst James Thompson said: "On a more structural theme, we see the relatively easy access to acreage that E&P companies have enjoyed for a decade coming to an end as big oil steps up the hunt for resources. Near term, we lower our exposure to political risk, particularly in the MENA region, and instead turn our focus to the exploration story that remains the sector's lifeblood."

HSBC ups target price from £1.90 to £2.00

AFR suddenly humming with very heavy volume (11m)

=====================

and a further 3.5m traded in the last 10 minutes before market closed

a freak, or something actually brewing?

Sinopec Said in Talks to Buy $1 Billion in Afren Assets
By Zijing Wu, Fox Hu & Will Kennedy - Feb 1, 2013 4:59 PM GMT ..Facebook Share LinkedIn Google +1 0 Comments
Print QUEUEQ..China Petrochemical Corp. (386), the country’s largest refiner, is in talks to buy more than $1 billion of assets from Afren Plc (AFR), people with knowledge of the matter said.

Sinopec Group, as China Petrochemical is known, is interested in Afren assets including those in Nigeria, one of the people said, asking not to be identified as the information is private. Afren, which also operates in the Kurdistan region of Iraq as well as other parts of Africa, said in November that it has been approached to sell stakes in its assets, without elaborating on the identity of the potential buyers.

Seeking to meet demand in the world’s second-largest economy, China’s state-backed firms bought a record $29 billion of energy assets abroad last year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Beijing-based Sinopec Group agreed to buy a 20 percent stake in an offshore Nigerian field from French explorer Total SA for about $2.5 billion in November.

Afren rose 10.6 pence, or 7.4 percent, to close at 154 pence in London yesterday, valuing the company at 1.7 billion pounds ($2.7 billion).

Lv Dapeng, Sinopec Group’s spokesman, did not answer calls to his office seeking comment. An Afren official declined to comment.

Afren, based in London, had $1.8 billion of assets in Nigeria at end of 2011, and generated 92 percent of its $597 million in sales there that year, data compiled by Bloomberg show. Revenue probably more than doubled to about $1.5 billion last year after production soared to 42,830 barrels of oil equivalent a day, Afren said on Jan. 22.

Afren expects to pump as much as 47,000 barrels a day this year, excluding Iraqi output, it said.

To contact the reporters on this story: Zijing Wu in Hong Kong at zwu17@bloomberg.net; Fox Hu in Hong Kong at fhu7@bloomberg.net; Will Kennedy in London at wkennedy3@bloomberg.net

silly question, but what is the benefit to AFR to allow someone just to cherry-pick assets?

cynic
If they sold a few of their assetts for over $1bn they would have over $1.6bn for exploration/production in East and West Africa / Kurdistan.
Puts company in very strong position.
Afrens market value based on share price is about $2.2bn.
Kurdistan assetts alone are rumoured to be worth about $3bn.

depends which assets the chinese want to gobble up then and how much of a premium they are prepared to pay

from osirisra on another board

I've been in touch with my man in the city. He doesn't have anything concrete, just the same chatter as everyone else, but,,,,,. He did say a few things that some on here have half alluded to.
1. The Chinese traditionally like to buy established assets rather than go prospecting.
2. Sinopec and Hunt are far from being natural bed fellows.
3. The Chinese are big and getting bigger in Africa every day.
4. Because of the above he believes that if the story is true then SINOPEC are probably after Nigerian assets.
5. Afren are not likely to sell established cash flowing assets in Nigeria compltetely.
6. That would put Afren back to square one, albeit a bigger square so therefore a farm in rather than sell out.
7. That would give Afren secure cash flow and the clout to fully develope Kurdistan assets which he believes will be the game changer for Afren.

He concluded that it is likely to be Nigeria but only a percentage. Like everybody else we will have to wait and see. If there is a deal announced I'm sure there will be a lot of people re posting their posts from over the weekend to say "I told you so".

http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/stocktube/1702/vsa-capital-still-likes-africa-kurdistan-for-oil-stocks--1702.html

http://www.thesundaytimes.co.uk/sto/business/Industry/article1206597.ec

ONE of Britain’s fastest-growing oil explorers has hatched an ambitious plan for a break-up.
Afren, the £1.7bn FTSE 250 company, has hired Steen Associates, a corporate finance firm, to sell its sought-after oil fields in Kurdistan and east Africa for up to £1bn. The disposal would leave the company with a rump centred on its operations in Nigeria.
Both Kurdistan and east Africa are enjoying oil booms after a string of discoveries. Big companies, desperate to get in, have paid huge prices for toeholds.
Exxon Mobil, Shell and BP are jostling for control of a giant $20bn (£ 12.7bn) gas development off Mozambique — south of Afren’s assets in Kenya and Ethiopia. Tony Hayward, the former BP boss who runs Genel Energy, the largest producer in Kurdistan, called the region “the last easy oil in the world”.
Osman Shahenshah, Afren’s chief executive, believes the company’s assets are undervalued and that industry heavyweights will pay a premium to take them over. Its shares have surged 7% in the past fortnight amid takeover speculation. Both Sinopec, the Chinese giant, and Exxon, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, have been tipped as suitors.
Steen is looking at alternatives to the asset sale plan as well. Afren declined to comment.
Oryx Petroleum, another oil explorer with assets in Nigeria and Kurdistan, is close to a float. The company founded by Jean Claude Gandur, a Swiss billionaire, has hired RBC Capital Markets to list it in Toronto.

Tullow Oil has discovered deposits of natural gas at a well in northern Kenya, whose drilling is set to be completed later this month.

The deposits were struck at 4,100 metres, less than a kilometre to the target depth of 4,900 metres at the Pai Pai 1 well in Block 10 A. The block is half owned by Tullow, 30 per cent by Africa Oil and the rest by Afren Plc.

“They are now testing to see output at that high pressure,” said an official conversant with the progress.

Tullow declined to comment on the status of its operations in Kenya.

“It’s still status quo, nothing has changed since the last update given. The well is still drilling,” said Evelyne Serro, Tullow’s communications officer for Kenya. “You will receive an update as soon as this is concluded at total depth”.

Industry analyst George Wachira said commercial natural gas deposits interrupt the momentum in the continued search and testing at the Twiga 1 , Ngamia 1 well and also the Mbawa natural gas prospect off the coast of Lamu.

“Finding of gas also delays commercial confirmation of already discovered oil which, hopefully, the drilling of “Sabisa-1” in Ethiopia will help to confirm,” he added.

Kenya is working on laws for exploration, production, logistics and monetisation of natural gas.
http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Tullow-strikes-natural-gas-deposits-in-the-north/-/539546/1683450/-/lc1n9/-/index.html

(Reuters) - London-listed oil explorer Afren (AFRE.L) has hired a corporate finance firm to look into selling its oil fields in Kurdistan and east Africa, leaving the group focused on its main assets in Nigeria, The Sunday Times reported.

Interest in both regions has soared after a string of discoveries, the newspaper said, and both China's Sinopec and U.S. oil company Exxon could be interested in buying the assets, which could fetch up to 1 billion pounds ($1.6 billion).

Afren has appointed Steen Associates to look into both a sale and alternative plans, it said.
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2013/02/03/uk-afren-asset-sale-idUKBRE9120AE20130203

From Afrens last statement
And it expects production this year to average between 40,000 boepd to 47,000 boepd - excluding Barda Rash.

Did this actually mean Barda Rash is up for sale.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/fq6vdpiqblbgxsd/AFREN_EXANE_04022013_35.pdf
Reportedly Sinopec looking to acquire some of Afren's assets
Last week, Bloomberg reported that China's Sinopec is interested in acquiring some of Afren's assets, including Nigeria, for over USD1bn. We believe this could make sense for Sinopec given its strong activity level in the country via its subsidiary Addax (acquired in 2009). We note that Afren CEO Osman Shahenshah has already indicated preliminary talks around farm-ins, partnerships and joint ventures in assets in which Afren has high equity stakes.
Okwok holds the key
Obviously until we get more detail on the potential asset package and terms it is impossible to assess the attractiveness of a potential deal for Afren. That said, the fact that Sinopec/Addax is a minority partner (12% stake) in the Okwok block and holds a commanding acreage position around it, should allow them (1) to extract significant synergies in the next phase of development of the Ebok/Okwok/OML115 complex and (2) potentially pay a decent premium to the assets. We value
the Ebok/Okwok/OML115 asset complex at a combined USD1.8bn (101p/sh).
Nigeria: fertile for deal activity despite PIB delays
Despite repeated delays to establish a new Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), deal activity has accelerated in recent months. Majors continue to exit (eg, COP asset sale; Total USD2.5bn Usan field disposal) and national and local players show appetite to expand. As such, we would not be surprised to see active deal flow in the country near term.
Exploration, strong prod growth, M&A appeal, 25% NAV discount; Outperform
As we highlighted in our E&P launch (see The Hunt) Afren is one of the key E&P stories of 2013.
Afren combines an active exploration campaign (Nigeria, East Africa), strong prod growth over thecoming years, now proven M&A appeal and an
unwarranted 25% discount to NAV. We see a potential asset sale quickly closing the valuation gap. Outperform. Tp £2.01.

http://washpost.bloomberg.com/Story?docId=1376-MHPAZZ6TTDTL01-0L9UG7PV514L4U2OOVKEOSQBON



Sinopec to Sell Shares Worth $3.1 Billion Amid Acquisitions
Joshua Fellman, Benjamin Haas and Bradley OlsonFeb 04, 2013 5:07 pm ET
(Updates with analyst comment in fourth paragraph.)

Feb. 5 (Bloomberg) -- China Petroleum & Chemical Corp., Asia’s biggest refiner, plans to sell shares worth HK$24 billion ($3.1 billion) as it looks to add production assets.

The company plans to sell 2.85 billion Hong Kong-traded shares at HK$8.45 each., 9.5 percent less than yesterday’s close, according to a filing after the market closed yesterday. The company’s U.S.-traded securities plunged 7.2 percent today, the sharpest drop in almost a year.

Sinopec, as China Petroleum is known, plans to use the money for “general corporate purposes,” it said in the statement, without giving more details. Its parent company is in talks to buy more than $1 billion of African assets from Afren Plc, people familiar with the matter said this week after the group paid $2.5 billion for a 20 percent stake in an offshore Nigerian field owned by Total SA in November.

“The market may well be a bit disconcerted by it,” Colin Smith, head of energy research at VTB Capital in London, said today in a telephone interview. Investors may take the sale as a sign of financial stress since it isn’t tied to a specific acquisition, he said.

Sinopec may buy $8 billion worth of assets outside of China from its state-owned parent, the Wall Street Journal reported last month. Before today, the Beijing-based company rose 6.4 percent this year in Hong Kong trading, compared with a 4.5 percent gain in the city’s benchmark Hang Seng Index. The stock fell 0.3 percent to close at HK$9.34 in Hong Kong trading yesterday.

Looking Overseas

“The company will be able to enrich its shareholder base by attracting a number of high caliber investors to participate in the placing,” Sinopec said in the filing. The company didn’t identify any of the investors.

Sinopec has struggled under a heavy debt load and Chinese price controls that have damped profitability from processing fuel. Those factors have forced the Beijing-based company to look for oil producing assets that can offset refining losses, said Erica Downs, a fellow at the John L. Thornton China Center at the Brookings Institution, a U.S.-based research group, in Washington.

“Sinopec has been hurt the most by these price controls and they see upstream assets as necessary to offset any losses in the downstream,” she said in a phone interview yesterday.

Sinopec’s parent China Petrochemical Corp., which is owned by the Chinese government, has traditionally been more acquisitive overseas than its publicly traded unit, Downs said.

As the publicly traded Sinopec seeks additional investors, buying assets from the parent company may be the most attractive way to seek income streams to offset refining losses, she said.

“There are probably reduced risks to buying from your parent company to venturing overseas,” she said. “It would be a way to build your portfolio very quickly.”

--With assistance from Charles Siler in San Francisco. Editors: Andrew Hobbs, Keith Gosman

not sure whether or not this is new news ....

Tullow Oil discovers gas deposits at well in Northern Kenya
Tullow Oil has discovered deposits of natural gas at its Paipai 1 well in northern Kenya, whose drilling began 2 months ago and is set to be completed in a month's time.
The deposits were struck at 4,100 metres, less than a kilometre to the target depth of 4,900 metres at the Pai Pai 1 well in Block 10 A. The block is half owned by Tullow, 30 per cent by Africa Oil and the remaining 20% by Afren Plc. This news was divulged by a official who did not want to be named due to the confidential nature of the process.