anyone got any ideas about the block trades that went through today?

website: http://www.sterlingenergyplc.com/



weather: www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at4+shtml/084938.shtml?50wind120

I believe Sterling own none of PSC B - only PSC A via Fusion Oil which it bought last year and Chiguetti via its Mauritanian Government interest which they paid $97 million for last year.

All efforts from the drilling contractors has been on PSC B and Chinguetti in recent months. When are they going to develop PSC A which directly afects Sterling?

I keep the faith, but I detect it is becoming a lonely watch.

SD

i think we are missing something here....

sd sorry you are wrong.

They have royalties on PSC b of between 2 and just over 4 dollars a barrel from PMO and around 7% royalties on Chinguetti as well via the Mauritannian Government deal. That one heck of a lot of cash even at $25 per barrel over the life of the field.

Sumarising, they have a direct interst as you say in PSCa and a dual royalty interest in PSCb.

prop we are missing a press release from Sterling.......................

No one seems to be connecting them with this, again!

The ask is dropping, it would be a good time to buy if the price was doing what it should do.

As it's not, I won't bother.

lets send them an email!

Seawallwalker - sorry, I must have missed that about PSC B - where is it mentioned? Apologies for ignorance.

SD

sd, dont apologise, no need.

This about covers it, from the Sterling web site.

http://www.sterlingenergyplc.com/news/woodside_drilling.pdf

prop, I will if you will, they need a kick up the bum............

all imo etc.

Here is what I sent.

Like my last to them, I doubt they will reply or take any action.

Starts.

Title :- Tiof 6.

Hello.

Is there any chance you would be kind enough to issue a statement the Stock Exchange concerning the above success in Mauritania.

I understand that Sterling have a 6% interest in the Tiof Field.

As a shareholder, I can not understand why the Company do not make capital out of good news like this.

Yours

Thanks, SWW.

you are the man.

Thanks for that SWW..perhaps SEY have a PR vacancy they need filling.....desperately!

I wonder if they are doing this deliberately to help their institution buddies get cheap stock!

God , how I hate to mention the possibilty of a conspiracy, becuase I know prop hates that!

It is odd that they say nowt all the time imo.

Well it did not move, extraordinary.

sometimes these guys just don't know how to treat the market. you would think they would follow up the announcement unless they are putting some more options in place for themselves. conspire away boys, there is something fishy going on

Well, Evolution have issued a new note. Edmund jackson has written a report this morning and still nothing has happened.

Lifted from iii poster is oilofulay

Edmond Jackson: Mauritania tidings lift oil explorers

Better than expected drilling news is boosting shares in companies with exposure to the Tiof-6 appraisal well offshore Mauritania.

One should be careful of assuming these regular drilling reports are truly meaningful for financial progress. Hardman Resources (an Australian company also listed on AIM) has taken the lead, with other listed companies - in particular Premier and ROC Oil, which are partners - then following suit. But today's update is genuinely good news because the results are better than expectations and lend hope for substantial upside.

With the greatest exposure (19%) Hardman shares (HNR) rise 14.4% or 11p to 87.5p, while Premier (PMO) is up 3.2% or 19p to 604p, and ROC (ROC) is up 2.5% or 2p to 82p. This is the snag for investors with fresh money, trying to react to drilling news: the market quickly prices in the new hope! It is very hard to guess whether momentum is likely to accelerate (as with Cairn on its initial success in Rajasthan) or the share price softens say a week later.

Remember that if expectations are initially set low then it makes today's announcement of 'a very encouraging first oil flow from Tiof a lot easier. It is still early days to define all this financially. In respect to Hardman, exploration is highly uncertain and management has been prudent not to raise expectations before todays result. The Tiof reservoir sands tested in this well are considered to be of poorer quality than those at Chinguetti and we therefore expected significantly lower production rates than those achieved in the Chinguetti early development well. The flow rates we have achieved at Tiof-6 exceed our pre-test expectations.

At midnight on 14 February, an extended flow period was underway, with a maximum flow rate at 12,400 barrels of oil plus 11 million standard cubic feet of gas per day, on a 104/64 choke. That refers to the main flow period and the stable rate is about 9,150 barrels of oil per day, on a 72/64 inch choke.

The aim of this well is to further appraise the Tiof oil discovery and interpret its sands following 3D seismic so we can expect plenty more detail in due course. But already, given an estimated 1 billion barrels of oil in place, an improvement in perceived reservoir quality should provide a boost to shares in the companies involved. Hardman lends the best exposure with 19% of Chinguetti, while Premier owns 8.1% and ROC Oil 3.25%.

Progress (or failure) with any Mauritanian wells is likely to impact other companies operating there, such as Dana Petroleum (where I retain shares) and AIM-listed Sterling Energy (which has a lesser involvement in Tiof).

So good news today for Mauritanian oil explorers, though I am not rushing to switch my portfolio for greater exposure.

Lifted from TMF poster is entrust.

Evolution have released an updated note on Sterling(SEY) post the Tiof flow test. They haven't(unsurprisingly) changed their rating and stick with the BUY comment. They have a price target of 27p against the current market price of 17p. There is nothing amazingly new in it to be honest but here are a couple of snippets...

This is good news for all the Mauritanian partners in PSC B ( Woodside, Hardman, Premier, ROC and Sterling), especially after the disappointment of not being able to flow test Tiof 4 due to mechanical problems. The flow test is also good news as its shows that despite concerns over reservoir quality (reckoned to be poorer than in Chinguetti from electric log analysis), the Tiof field is capable of sustained high flow rates. Hardman has confirmed the oil-in-place number of the Tiof field at around 1 billion barrels in place. This flow rate would therefore confirm the recoverable reserve number of 350m barrels to be found in the Hardman corporate brochure recently updated on their website.

and...

In addition, should the Tiof development go ahead, there is the probability of the Mauritanian government backing in for its 12% stake. If this happens in 2005, the government is likely to require funding, as with the Chinguetti deal in 2004, and Sterling, as a strategic partner with the government could have the opportunity to participate.

Entrust

sww - re: SEY posting RNS

I guess it all depends on whose financial services that you use. As well as this site, I use moneyextra to mainly gather news stories. On their site, the Hardman Tuesday updates are always copied to the SEY news area, and so the two are linked (though not as explicitly as we may like).

I note that the bid/offer split is widening as I write, so maybe we might see a little jump in the sp later today. Let's hope so.

sf fair enough, I had seen that on iii.

I think you are right in respect of the price, but it wont be a lot and certainly, we have been there before.

I hold HNR too, so am not too unhappy.

sww (and all)

Reading back over the last few days posts I am of the opinion that a lot of people are missing the point (not your goodself though, sir). Or maybe I've misunderstood.

As I understand it, regardless of who owns what proportion of what oil well, at the end of the day SEY will be THE Mauritanian oil company. They will have a slice of the action on all fronts - petrol stations, etc. They will effectively become the BP/Shell of Mauritania. Can only be good in the long run.