Right I havent beleived in investing directly in an oil company untill today and in the last few months have been investing in OIL SERVICE companys Hamworthy and Corac, you know the picks and shovels tale.

Anyway after doing a lot of research I really feel that SOCO INTERNATIONAL SIA as been left behind in the mass bull market on oil companies.

Forget, Burren, Regal, Dana and the rest in my opinion this is the one to be on.

So.....why buy Soco now?

Four inter-related reasons:

1) Newsflow is now very much in sight on several fronts. None of it has yet emerged though, so analysts have yet to revisit their old views and recommendations. There was, and indeed remains, a chance to get in before serious interest picks up again.

2) There is, IMO, a decent chance of some very large price rises within the next 6 months, accompanied by increased downside protection. Once newsflow starts, the shares will come back onto institutional radar screens - you can wait for it to emerge, or you can speculate now at what I think will prove to be a lower price -perhaps much lower!

3) The market thinks there is nothing happening and has gone to sleep on the prospects. You can see this in the broadly sideways drift and very low volumes on most days [until this week]. They are wrong. Yemen and perhaps Mongolia should provide some near-term good news.

4) The time to buy is when no-one else seems very interested.

And heres the last results from the company......................

Soco International PLC
02 September 2004

SOCO International plc

Interim Results for the six months ended 30 June 2004

SOCO is an international oil and gas exploration and production company,
headquartered in London. The Company has interests in Vietnam, Mongolia, Yemen,
Libya, Tunisia and Thailand, with production operations in Yemen, Tunisia and
Mongolia. SOCO today announces interim results for the half year ended 30 June
2004.

HIGHLIGHTS

Operating profit of 4.1 million (2003: 4.2 million)

Net profit of 2.0 million (2003: 2.5 million)

Earnings per share of 2.9p (2003: 3.6p)

Cash balance of 26.7 million at half year end

Finalised the sale of an interest in ODEX creating a consortium of SOCO
(34%), Oilinvest (46%) and Gazprombank (20%) in the special purpose
entity to progress initiatives in Libya and other countries

Continued reinterpretation of existing 3D seismic and acquisition of 650
sq km of new 3D seismic in Vietnam prior to commencement of drilling in
Q1 2005

3D seismic programme completed in Mongolia with two wells drilled, both
apparent discoveries, and a third well spudded

First ever deviated Basement well drilling in East Shabwa in Yemen



Ed Story, President and Chief Executive of SOCO, said:

'Following an extended period of quiet preparation, the release of interim
results coincides with the commencement of a very active drilling programme for
SOCO, one that I believe has company transforming potential'

2 September 2004

ENQUIRIES:
SOCO International plc Tel: 020 7457 2020 (today)ENDS.

This could really be a craking stock and is worth getting in at these lowly price figures.

Please DYOR

cheers GF.

mickeyskint. come to think about it ................ NO. Not that I am prepared to confess to anyway.

Lol!

Mickey's mother in law is legendary!

Troys,

TMF site is excellent as is the SIA board over there. A lot of knowledgable posters. Your reading and digesting of that board shouldn't take long, a couple of weeks perhaps! ;-) I dont really use ADVFN much although I do look in now and again. As always though, the DYOR cant be beaten, but it doesn't do any harm to see what others think.

The 2004 interims make good reading, especially what Ed Story and Patrick Maugein say when talking about 2005's prospects. Well worth a read. A snippet from it:

Ed Story, President and Chief Executive of SOCO, said:

'Following an extended period of quiet preparation, the release of interim
results coincides with the commencement of a very active drilling programme for
SOCO, one that I believe has company transforming potential'


http://www.uk-wire.com/cgi-bin/articles/200409021507115528C.html

There are also some other links that others have posted earlier on in the thread.

What I like about Soco is that it is not a one field wonder, plenty of irons in different fires, Vietnam, Yemen, Mongolia and the Libya prospect. Connoco Phillips are also active in Vietnam, i posted a link earlier on in the thread detailing their activities.

The website also details the various drilling activities.


http://www.socointernational.co.uk/

Hope some of that helps.

Cheers

Gav

gavdfc

Will let you know how legendary Mickey's mother is later.We are not on the same shift.

Thanks for the info

Troys

Lol!

No problem Troys, you're welcome.

Cheers

Gav

Delayed 50k buy just showed up at 452, 2p over offer, someone's keen.

Another 2 delayed 50k trades show up, now up 4p.

From Citywire today.

http://www.citywire.co.uk/News/NewsArticle.aspx?VersionID=71869&MenuKey=News.Home&NewsPage=1

"The biggest riser by far in either the Citywire BrainsTrust 350 or Small Cap indices in the latest analysis in Citywire Funds Insider magazine was oil & gas group Soco International, which delivered good returns for Citywire AA-rated Paul Mumford of Cavendish Asset Management."

Yemen drilling update out:

Soco International PLC
18 February 2005


SOCO International plc
('SOCO' or 'the Company')

Successful Testing of Two Yemen Wells

SOCO is an international oil and gas exploration and production company,
headquartered in London. The Company has continuing interests in Vietnam,
Mongolia, Yemen, Libya and Thailand with ongoing production operations in Yemen
and Mongolia.

The Company's majority owned subsidiary, Comeco Petroleum, Inc. ('Comeco'),
through which the Company holds a 16.785% interest in the East Shabwa
Development Area in Yemen ('ESDA'), announces the successful production test of
the KHA-403 and extended production test results of the KHA 402 well. Both wells
were drilled as part of the continuing appraisal and development of the Basement
reservoir in the Kharir Field.

The KHA-403 spudded on 6 December 2004 and reached a total depth of 3,383
metres. The objectives of the well were to delineate the Basement and evaluate
reservoir development in the undrilled western extension of the structure.
KHA-403 produced over 6,500 barrels of oil per day ('BOPD') when tested earlier
this month and is now connected to Kharir's main production facilities.

The KHA-402 well spudded on 17 October 2004 and reached a total depth of 3,441
metres on 20 November 2004. The well was drilled to test the potential of the
eastern end of the Kharir field on the flank of the structure. The well was
tested between 15 December 2004 and 18 December 2004 achieving a rate of 550
BOPD before being shut-in for a long term test. It was re-opened 26 January
2005 and the rate stabilized at approximately 710 BOPD on 13 Feb 2005.

The fourth Basement well in the current ESDA drilling programme, the KHA-404,
spudded on 1 February.

18 February 2005

ENQUIRIES:

SOCO International plc Tel: 020 7747 2000
Roger Cagle, Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer

College Hill Tel: 020 7457 2020
Ben Brewerton
Nick Elwes

Notes to Editors

Comeco, in which SOCO holds a 58.75% interest, has a 28.57% interest in the ESDA
in Block 10 in Yemen. The East Shabwa joint venture is operated by TOTAL Yemen,
S.A. (28.57% interest) under a production sharing agreement with the government
of Yemen. The other joint venture partners are Occidental Yemen Ltd. (28.57%
interest) and Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co. (14.29% interest).


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

Creeping up nicely, some decent sized trades earlier.

Nice rise gav.

cheers GF.

It is indeed Goldfinger. We have been creeping up slowly over the last few days. Also noticed a 134k T trade just gone through at 474. Would imagine it is a buy being filled considering the price.

Citywire article out. :-)))

(UPDATE) Soco International announces good drilling test results from Yemen and secures further gains on the shares rapid ascent from the 300p mark over the last three months.

The shares rose 12p to 473p on the back of this morning's positive news. It is expected to be a busy year for the group as it ramps up its exploration efforts in Vietnam and Yemen.

Today's developments suggest Soco could have a bigger Yemen oil field than originally thought.

Deputy chief executive and chief financial officer Roger Cagle told Citywire: 'What this program was designed to do was to test the limits of the Kharir structure.'

Through a 59% owned subsidiary, Comeco Petroleum, Soco (SIA) has a 16.8% interest in the East Shabwa Development Area in Yemen (ESDA), which has today reported production test results from two wells.

The two wells were drilled to try and mark the western and eastern limits of the basement reservoir in the ESDA's Kharir field.

However one of the wells drilled, KHA-403, does not look like it is on the limits of anything.

The western KHA-403 well reached a total depth of 3,380 metres and produced more than 6,500 barrels of oil per day when it was tested this month and has since been connected to Kharir's main production facilities. Soco would have expected far less oil were the well on the edge of the structure.

Cagle said: 'The result we got from KHA-403 is extremely exciting news for us. Not only is it adding to production but it also indicates that the structure is bigger than we thought.'

Results from the eastern KHA-402 well were more consistent with management's expectations. The well reached a total depth of 3,440 metres. In initial tests the well produced 550 barrels of oil per day, but after being shut-in for a long-term test it began producing 710 barrels a day when it re-opened.

In early December, after drilling the KHA-402 well, Soco reported that oil and gas had been encountered throughout the basement. It plans to drill about 8 more wells in the area this year.

Soco also has interests in Vietnam, Mongolia, Libya and Thailand with ongoing production operations in Yemen and Mongolia.

Cagle said: 'This year will be the most active year we've had as a company... This is results time for us.'

3 lines stand out immediately from the article.

"Today's developments suggest Soco could have a bigger Yemen oil field than originally thought."

and

"The two wells were drilled to try and mark the western and eastern limits of the basement reservoir in the ESDA's Kharir field.

However one of the wells drilled, KHA-403, does not look like it is on the limits of anything."

and

"Cagle said: 'This year will be the most active year we've had as a company... This is results time for us."

Chucked some of these in the ISA earlier.

Nice one Al. Looks like this year will be an eventful year for Soco. Hopefully we should get the results of the first Vietnam drill around mid to end April. This Yemen news is good news indeed if proved to be correct.

Looking good and that's without news from Libya. A lot more to come from this one on news flow.

MS

Gav

Haven't owned shares in them for about 3 years, I think. Missed the move a few weeks back, but they seem to have an interesting time and posting new highs today makes me think 6 by Easter. ;-))

Here's hoping anyway.

It is indeed Mickey, and they are planning to drill another 8 or so wells in Yemen alone, plus 3 with the option of 3 more in Vietnam. And as you say, this is without anything happening from Libya.

Looking good to me. This could just be SOCO's year.

MS

Al,

Think these have a long way to go. Pity you missed the move earlier in the year. But as you know, newsflow works wonders here, as long as its good. Breaking into uncharted territory here again, as we did after breaking through 4 so should be fun. 6 by Easter will do for a start, should pay for a few eggs! :-))