.

chart already looks pretty good, and if the all-time high of 83p can be broken with impetus, then sp could rocket away

Recap of the Shares article from June ( if they do not mind :) )

Xcite Energy (XEL:AIM) 69.5p - BUY

Plenty to Xcite

The case for investing in Xcite can be made simply by comparing the market valuation with the risked net present value (NPV) ascribed to its Bentley heavy oil field by an independent audit carried out earlier this year.

This audit suggested the asset is worth $546 million, while the groups market cap at the time of writing is $133 million. The massive gap could close in the near term with the group set to drill an appraisal well on Bentley, thought to contain as much as 200 million barrels of oil, at the end of next month. Results are expected either in late August or early September.

It is worth remembering that drilling does not represent blue sky exploration. A well was successfully drilled and tested on the field more than two years ago and this confirmed excellent reservoir characteristics. While the risk profile maybe increased by the single asset focus, investors should be more than compensated by the level of reward on offer.

If the appraisal work is successful the group hopes to bring Bentley onstream as early as next year, with full field development planned for 2014. The economics of the project have been improved by changes introduced in the April 2009 UK budget when the government announced new tax incentives for heavy oil projects.

Seems to be some confusion by some people on the Ocean Nomad.

As far as I am aware in the last RNS Xcite said they had signed a binding contract to use the Ocean Nomad in September, this falls into line with a mobilisation, arrive on site and spud mid-September.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201007200700095862P


However, some people are saying that the Ocean Nomad will be drilling Kraken first for NPE, however I find no data to back this up. NPE did release a note saying they signed sn AGREEMENT (no mention of rig name) to drill Kraken in the summer, but this was way back in April.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201004061146527388J

It appears to me the Ocean Nomad was an "option" for NPE, however it seems that NPE have not signed a CONTRACT and in the meantime now Xcite (XEL) have signed a binding contract to use the Ocean Nomad in September, meaning that either NPE use another rig, or plan to drill Kraken later on now.

For those suggesting in other places that the ON will drill Kraken before Bentley, I think you are wrong....... does anyone have any other data to suggest this, or is it just confusion over the words "option and agreement" as opposed to "binding contract" ?

I have not looked into it in too much detail, but this seems to be the case to me.

Worth watching.

http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/stocktube/478/xcite-energy-bentley-north-sea-oil-field-could-be-a-two-billion-dollar-asset-prize-478.html

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pp see NPE RNS dated 6th April 2010 re agreement to use ON "in the summer".

Halifax, notice that it was in APRIL, and its only an AGREEMENT.

Notice that XEL have recently (this month) RNS'd a "BINDING CONTRACT".

Looks like NPE's agreement fell through, and XEL picked up the rig.

who knows? ... anyway, XEL is performing pretty well and it certainly looks more than likely that drilling will commence within a couple of months

pp spoke to NPE just now they do have a contract for the Ocean Nomad to drill Kraken and spudding will occur shortly, preceding the Xcite contract.

Ok.

Ocean Nomad now down for Xcite from early Sept.

Probably going to be mid-Sept to late-Sept spud date.

http://www.diamondoffshore.com/ourFleet/documents/August132010web.xls

.

Very interesting news, all very positive and hopefully will lead to some solid upgrades on the reservoir size, which can have a tremendous impact on the upside.

http://www.investegate.co.uk/Article.aspx?id=201008200700043706R

.

http://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/20529/xcite-energy-chief-executive-looks-ahead-to-transformational-few-months-20529.html


Xcite Energy Chief Executive looks ahead to transformational few months

Friday, August 27, 2010 by Jamie Ashcroft

With the release of its Q2 results, Xcite Energys (LON:XEL) chief executive Richard Smith said he was looking forward to a transformational few months.

In the three-months ended 30th June, the company has been working in preparation for an important work programme on the Bentley oil field in the North Sea. Xcite and its partners - collectively known as the Bentley Alliance - will appraise the Bentley field, gather data and accelerate the first stage production programme.

"This has been another important period for the company and we have now put in place the key elements of the work programme for the 9/3b-R well, Smith commented.
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Significantly, Xcite secured an alterative rig to carry out the 9/3b-R drilling. With the Ocean Nomad semi-submersible rig, the Bentley Alliance have been able to expand the scope of the drilling programme to include a slant well section.

The company believes its updated plan will provide greater certainty for the planned horizontal flow test.

Importantly the enhancement will add new significant data, and accelerate development to reach first stage production.

We look forward to a transformational few months as we seek to demonstrate the commercial value of the Bentley field," Smith added.

The company said it has a strong balance sheet, with 23.3m as at the end of the period. Additionally it added a further capital this week with a placing, raising 5.8m gross.

Could quite easily double in value by Christmas, perhaps even more....

Do we have an exact spud date yet? It is my aim to start buying these about 2 weeks before spudding with a price target of 125p pre first drill test results.

Not yet, but soon.....better buy on tuesday....nothing is certain but this looks a good bet....

'better buy on tuesday'

I did better as i bought today, this got buy buy buy all over it on the run upto spudding. Should be a goer next week especially after Dow flew tonight.

Spud will be late September IMO.

Thanks i'll monitor share price for movements, done the research and obviously oil is there it's just a case of how well they can get it to flow - quite a team behind XEL though and also experts from BP and AMEC. I've seen the fanciful topline targets of 700-1400p so well tempted to get stuck in big pre spud.

Thanks i'll monitor share price for movements, done the research and obviously oil is there it's just a case of how well they can get it to flow - quite a team behind XEL though and also experts from BP and AMEC. I've seen the fanciful topline targets of 700-1400p so well tempted to get stuck in big pre spud.

certainly should rise ahead of spud one would have thought but of course we need to see a more stable stockmarket on the whole. I can see the excitment building here the next few weeks and a lovely bullish statement with the last rns:

We look forward to a transformational few months as we seek to demonstrate the commercial value of the Bentley field,"