http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/24188/xcite-energy-shares-soar-as-it-proves-bentley-oil-field-is-commercial-24188.html
Xcite Energy shares soar as it proves Bentley oil field is commercial
Tuesday, December 21, 2010 by Jamie Ashcroft
Xcite Energy (LON:XEL, TSX:XEL) shares spiked over 30 percent in opening trades after the hotly anticipated Bentley flow test confirmed the heavy oil fields commerciality.
In the North Sea, the Xcite team conducted multi-rate flow tests, culminating in a final stabilised flow rate of 2,900 stock tank barrels of oil per day.
The news ended months of speculation over the viability of the heavy oil asset. Among many investors the flow test was seen as a make or break moment for Xcite.
"This is an outstanding outcome for the Xcite team ... This flow test fully demonstrates the commercial potential of the Bentley field and the long-held belief that Xcite has maintained in this major North Sea asset, chief executive Richard Smith said.
We now move on to the first stage production planned for 2011 with an excellent platform."
Xcite shares rallied sharply in early trades, soaring to an intraday high at 425.25 pence, a 33 percent rise from Mondays close.
Since then a certain amount of profit taking has seen the rally settle down somewhat, and shares were last changing hands at around 383 pence, up 64 pence or 20 percent on the day.
Dougie Youngson, oil and gas analyst at Arbuthnot Securities, gave the stock a resounding upgrade in the wake of the news. He upped his rating from Neutral to Strong Buy, and increased his price target massively from 247 to 600 pence per share.
In what has proven to be a polarising stock in recent months, Xcite has successfully achieved what many thought would never happen, Youngson said.
He added: This is a transformational result for Xcite. The scale of the opportunity in terms of reserves and production will put it on a par with several main board listed companies.
As well as the obvious boost that commerciality brings, the findings of the flow test will also allow Xcite to update the Competent Person Report (CPR) for the Bentley field which is likely to upgrade the existing oil resource.
This process should see the contingent resources being converted into reserves, Youngson said.
Furthermore the analyst also highlighted that the updated CPR will then provide the basis for Xcites partners - Amec (LON:AMEC) and others - to begin to scope the oil field development project.
Youngson noted three significant milestones that Xcite and its partners will need to achieve to bring this new North Sea oilfield into production.
According to Youngson, Xcite and Amec will first have to sign off the First Stage Production (FSP) development plan.
Then Xcite will need to raise around US$100 million - Youngson expects this to be a combination of debt and equity - to fund the FSP development.
Xcite must then secure the necessary approvals from the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change to allow the next phase of drilling and construction.
Youngson wasnt the only analyst to praise the result, Evolution Securities also feature the stock in its Thought of the Day note to investors.
This is a cracking result which we believe should see the recovery factors and recoverable resources move towards the top end of the range which was last estimated in June 2009 (220 million barrels),
The analyst emphasised that it would probably be higher than that due to the positive results from the vertical section of the well.
In October the vertical well section found that the oil column was around 40 foot thicker than expected, with 113 feet of oil in a high quality Dornoch reservoir.
The oil column had 100% of oil net-to-gross, and the well also confirmed the oil/water contact at 3,729 feet.
In 2010, the Xcite share price has been through a staggering transformation, which will have seen some plucky investors doubling their money several times over.
This time last year Xcite shares were changing hands at around 40 pence.
Xcite shares finally broke through the 300 pence level in early, after testing the level a few times in mid-November. The stock reached a new high at 332 pence on 3 December 2010.
This marked a three-fold increase since October, after the initial drill results from the vertical section of the high profile appraisal well impressed.
In recent weeks the stock pulled back somewhat following a number of delays as Xcite tried to start the flow test - just last week the shares traded at 222 pence.
The tests were initially planned to start in the first week of December, however a combination of poor weather and a technical glitch led to a delay.