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.

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! :-))

Artcile on Oilvoice, nothing we don't really know though.

http://oilvoice.com/m/uploadDetail_public.asp?upload_ID=3294

Just tried a dummy trade with Comdirect. Can sell 10k at 484 but only buy 100 at 487. Stock shortage again perhaps.

Thought it would be good to bring a chart on to the thread. Shows the breakout well and looks good to me! :-)))

Cracking day today guys, looking forward to many more.

cheers GF.

Another 8 or so wells to be drilled this year in Yemen alone. If they can come up trumps like today then I will be most happy indeed. Hopefully some press over the weekend will start us off to another good week. A good weekend to all.

Cheers

Gav (will be sinking a few lagers tonight!)

Director buying:

Soco International PLC
18 February 2005


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

DIRECTOR SHAREHOLDING

The Company was notified today that Mr Ettore Contini acquired an interest in
an additional 40,000 SOCO International plc ordinary shares of 0.20 each
('Shares'). The Shares were purchased at an average price of 4.53 per share
on 9 February 2005 and represent 0.06% of the issued share capital of the
Company. Following this transaction, Mr Contini is interested in a total of
60,000 Shares, representing 0.08% of the issued share capital of the Company.

Contact: Carol Fan, 020 7747 2000


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

Couldn't find much in the way of press today, only this from the Independent:

"Soco International jumped 29p to 490.5p after the oil explorer boasted of positive results from two of its wells in Yemen."

http://news.independent.co.uk/business/analysis_and_features/story.jsp?story=612521

Great start to the week

this is an interesting stock....shame i missed it from the 4 mark. any broker notes ideas of targets?

Stonking rise this morning and through 5 quid, nice.

cheers GF.

Just got to my pc and seen the rise, excellent. Through 5 easily. No idea as to brokers targets Prop. Just found this on Oilbarrel.com.

21.02.2005
SOCO Savours Drillbit Surprise In Yemen
While the rest of the E&P industry got busy sinking wells last year, London-based SOCO International had a fairly limited acquaintance with the drillbit in 2004. Thats all set to change this year, with the company planning a slew of wells on its acreage in Yemen and Vietnam.

The 2005 work programme has started on a high note, with the KHA-403 on the western extension of the Kharir field in the East Shabwa Development Area in Yemen exceeding expectations with an impressive 6,500 barrel per day flow rate.

We were trying to find the extent of the field and thought we were drilling on the fringes, explained chief financial officer Roger Cagle. We expected a rate more like the KHA-402 well [which production tested at a rate of 700 bpd] so this was a very pleasant surprise and indicates that the field is much larger than we anticipated.

A further eight wells are planned here, with the KHA-404 well now drilling ahead. Through its majority-owned subsidiary Comeco Petroleum, SOCO owns a 16.785 per cent stake in the East Shabwa Development Area. The project is operated by French oil giant TotalFinaElf (28.57 per cent) with Oxy (28.57 per cent) and the Kuwait Foreign Petroleum Exploration Co (14.29 per cent) making up the rest of the joint venture. In all, the JV produces some 30,000 barrels per day, a number that, pending the outcome of the 2005 drilling campaign, is expected to rise to around 50,000 bpd.

Perhaps most exciting is the prospect of further exploration on the acreage.

We believe we have identified two look-alikes to Kharir on the block and expect to crank up the exploration in the second half of this year, said Cagle. When we got involved in Yemen it was thought to be a marginal field but its turning into a really sweet development for us.

SOCO is keen to pick up more acreage near East Shabwa but was outgunned in the 2004 bid round by the might of the Indian and Chinese oil firms.

We were squeezed out by the big boys and in the current bid round theres nothing that particularly interests us, Cagle told oilbarrel.com. But we see a lot of potential and would like to expand in Yemen.

In Vietnam, where SOCO holds assets in the offshore Cuu Long Basin, the first well in a possible six-well drilling campaign is still drilling ahead. The CNV-3X appraisal well in Block 9-2 is a follow-up to the CNV-1X discovery of 2002, which flowed the equivalent of 4,500 barrels of oil per day during testing.

The appraisal well is a highly deviated well and its going to take about three months to drill and, hopefully, test, said Cagle.

Once the CNV well has been completed, the rig will move to Block 16-1 to start work on an exploration well.

Elsewhere SOCO is hoping to finally extract some value from its project in eastern Mongolia, where it operates three blocks in the Tamstag Basin.

We are in serious ongoing discussions with the Chinese, said Cagle, recently returned from a trip to Beijing. The geology in Mongolia is too complex for us and aerially the project is too large for us. We expect to see some kind of monetization of this asset this year.

The project has been hampered by the realities of working in Mongolia: it is remote, with a limited market, no infrastructure and beset by an unworkable winter season. Its very difficult to keep costs down, said Cagle. If this project was in Western Europe or North America, it would be a cash cow.

A wholesale or partial withdrawal from Mongolia may well be matched by expansion elsewhere. At the moment, the company is progressing possible new ventures in North and West Africa, one or both of which may well come off later in 2005, in what is shaping up to be an exciting year for SOCO investors.

Good volume supporting the rise now and not much sign of a shake (yet).

Long may it continue