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

You're welcome Prop. Looking forward to seeing the results. Said they would also post me a copy when they are released, some light bedtime reading!

Woodside DJ:-

Warned on Weds of the risk of a dry hole as it prepares to kick off its $100m+ Mauritanian explo program.

CE told DJNW at the World Energy Congress in Sydney that the first well will test Dorade to the south of the existing Chinguetti and Tiof discoveries.

"We are highlighting that Dorade is a very high risk well.... and we think that it has a strong possibility of being a dry hole," "but if it does work it opens up a whole new area,"

Two drill ships contracted by Woodside arrive in Mauritania over the next few days.

"Thelast time I saw the schedule it was 9/9 and 11/9."

http://sg.biz.yahoo.com/040908/15/3mzea.html

This is only one well.

If Woodside really thought it dry, would they still drill it??

I don't think so!

Hardman Resources Limited
10 September 2004

STOCK EXCHANGE / MEDIA RELEASE

RELEASE DATE: 10 September 2004

CONTACT: Scott Spencer (08 9321 6881)

RE: MAURITANIA DRILLING PROGRAMME UPDATE


Hardman Resources Ltd ('Hardman' or 'the Company') is pleased to provide the
following information on the 2004 drilling programme offshore Mauritania.

As previously advised, two drilling vessels, the 'West Navigator' and the 'Stena
Tay' have been contracted to carry out the forthcoming drilling programme,
working in tandem and operating in water depths ranging from 300 metres to 1,700
metres. Both vessels are currently in transit and the 'West Navigator' is
expected to arrive on location on or about 11 September and the 'Stena Tay' is
expected to arrive on or about 15 September.

As previously reported the drilling programme is currently planned to include up
to twenty one wells, including a total of six exploration wells in PSC's A, B
and Block 2, four appraisal wells on the Tiof discovery and eleven Chinguetti
development wells. The final prospect selection and well drilling sequence will
be subject to change dependent on continuing technical work, initial drilling
results and operational issues. The presence of the two rigs also allows for
'batch drilling' wells - whereby one rig performs the same operation on a number
of wells in sequence rather than drilling a single well from top to bottom. The
second rig would then drill or complete the next section. The rigs work most
efficiently in this manner and this can result in very significant cost savings.

The programme is expected to begin with the 'West Navigator' drilling and casing
the 'top hole' sections on the Dorade-1 (PSC-2), Capitaine-1 and Tevet-1
exploration wells and a Tiof appraisal well (all in PSC B) before moving to the
Tiof-3 appraisal well which will then be drilled to total depth. The 'top hole'
section on these wells varies from approximately 600 metres to 1,000 metres of
drilled hole.

The planned Tiof appraisal programme includes 3 firm wells and a contingent
fourth appraisal well, subject to additional seismic and technical studies. We
expect that the Tiof-3 well will be completed and flow tested in a similar
manner to the successful Chinguetti 4-5 Early Development Well ('EDW').

To maintain the Chinguetti field development schedule and because of the late
arrival of the rigs, the 'Stena Tay' will, on arrival, drill a Chinguetti water
injection well before beginning the exploration programme. The 'Stena Tay' will
then move to the Tevet-1 well,which because of its proximity to Chinguetti is
now expected to be the first exploration prospect to be drilled to total depth.
We then expect the 'Stena Tay' to move to other exploration wells while the
'West Navigator' continues work on the Tiof programme.

Hardman intends to report progress of the drilling programme in its regular
weekly release every Tuesday morning with special releases as required.

Interests in the three production sharing contract areas that will be drilled
are:

Company PSC A PSC B PSC C2
Woodside group companies (operator) 53.846% 53.846% 48%
Hardman group companies 24.3% 21.6% 28.8%
BG group companies 13.084% 11.63%
Premier group companies 9.231%
Fusion Mauritania A Ltd* 4.615%
ROC Oil group companies 4.155% 3.693% 3.2%
Energy Africa 20%
* Premier has 29.9% interest in Fusion Mauritania A Ltd



SCOTT SPENCER
DIRECTOR

A bit more to this press release.

Keep it coming Harry............


Sterling Energy PLC
10 September 2004

Sterling Energy is pleased to announce the imminent start of the 2004-2005
drilling campaign offshore Mauritania, where it holds carried royalty interests
in two licences.



The campaign will include up to 20 exploration and development wells, including
appraisal drilling on the 200 million barrel plus Tiof discovery on licence PSC
B, and development of the 125 million barrel Chinguetti Field.



Sterling Chief Executive Harry Wilson said: 'We are delighted that this campaign
is now about to get underway. Our royalty agreement with Premier means the wells
will be drilled and completed at no cost to Sterling, offering large upside to
our shareholders.'



Sterling holds interests in the licence areas PSC A and PSC B through its
successful acquisition of Fusion Oil and Gas plc last December. Fusion had
previously completed a royalty agreement with Premier Oil plc covering 6% of the
equity in PSC B and 3% in PSC A. As a result of this agreement Sterling will be
paid a cash sum for each barrel produced net to these interests, based on a
sliding scale related to oil price. At $30 oil this is $2.75 per barrel, and at
$40 oil it is $4.75 per barrel.



In addition for every discovery in excess of 50 million barrels Sterling will
receive from Premier a cash payment of $2 million in PSC B, and $1 million in
PSC A.



Operator Woodside Petroleum Ltd today issued the following details on the
Australian Stock Exchange:



DRILLING ACTIVITY UPDATE:

OFFSHORE RIG ARRIVAL IN MAURITANIA SIGNALS START OF DRILLING CAMPAIGN





Woodside Mauritania Ltd., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Woodside Petroleum Ltd.,
expects the West Navigator to arrive in offshore Mauritania today. The West
Navigator is the first of two deep-water drilling rigs that will work in tandem
on the 2004-05 drilling program, previously announced on 5 July, 2004.



The West Navigator is expected to begin drilling activities on 11th September.
The second drill rig to be used in this campaign, the Stena Tay, is expected to
arrive around the 15 September 2004. The presence of the two rigs allows for '
batch drilling' of wells whereby one rig performs the same operation on a number
of wells in sequence rather than drilling a single well from top to bottom. The
West Navigator will drill the 'top hole' sections of a number of exploration and
appraisal wells. Following completion of the 'top holes', the wells will be
temporarily suspended before the drilling of the 'bottom hole' target sections
by the Stena Tay. This tandem drilling arrangement utilising the two rigs will
achieve increased efficiency during the campaign.



The West Navigator will commence 'top hole' drilling of the exploration wells
Dorade, Capitaine, Tevet, and the Tiof-A appraisal well. After completing the
batch drilling of the 'top holes', the West Navigator will move to completely
drill the Tiof-3 appraisal well on the Tiof discovery. This well is currently
planned to be completed and flow tested.



The Stena Tay will commence its drilling activities with a development well on
the Chinguetti field in PSC Area B, followed by the 'bottom holes' on the wells
commenced by the West Navigator.



Equity interests in the relevant permits in Mauritania are as follows:


Company PSC A PSCB PSC C2
Woodside group companies (operator) 53.846% 53.846% 48%
Hardman group companies 24.3% 21.6% 28.8%
BG group companies 13.084% 11.63%
Premier group companies 9.231%
Fusion Mauritania A Ltd 4.615%
ROC Oil group companies 4.155% 3.693% 3.2%
Energy Africa 20%





For further information please contact:



Harry Wilson, Chief Executive, Sterling Energy plc: 01582 462 121

Allan Piper, First City Financial Public Relations: 020 7436 7486
07736 064 982




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

Crikey!

Here is the deal.

This could go on for years, with no capital outlay!

It could be worth millions and more!

At this rate they are worth any Major buying them out!!!


Sterling Energy
AFX


LONDON (AFX)- Oil company Sterling Energy PLC is to begin its 2004/2005 drilling campaign off the coast of Mauritania.

The new campaign will include up to 20 exploration and development wells, including an appraisal drilling on the 200 mln barrel Tiof discovery and development of the 125 mln barrel Chinguetti field.

Sterling is to be paid a cash sum for each barrel produced, based on a sliding scale related to the oil price.

At 30 usd, Sterling will be paid 2.75 usd per barrel and at 40 usd it will be 4.75 usd per barrel. In addition for every discovery in excess of 50 mln barrels Sterling will receive a cash payment of 2 mln usd on licence PSC B, and 1 mln usd on licence PSC A.

The drilling will be carried out by Woodside Mauritania Ltd.

newsdesk@afxnews.com

ec

Anyone left in the room, or did you all go home early?

Hi SW,

Thanks for posting all this, been out and missed it. What a cracking day for news here. So now the drilling starts and the fun begins! Trying to do some quick figures here.

PSC A - Chinguetti Field poss 125mbl.

SEY get 3% so poss 3.75mbl. At $30bbl, 3.75m x $2.75 = $10.31m.
At $40bbl, 3.75m x $4.75 = $17.81m. Plus if find over 50mbl another payment of $1m.

PSC B - Tiof poss 200mbl.

SEY get 6% so poss 12mbl. At $30bbl, 12 x $2.75 = $33m.
At $40bbl, 12m x $4.75 = $57m. Plus if find over 50m another payment of $2m.

Seems like a lot of money could be flowing our way. And all if this is at no cost to us. Anyone else come up with any figures? Mine could be all wrong of course and I could be reading the info wrong. What do you all think?

Cheers

Gav (trying hard to remain calm!)

As a shareholder of HNR I have fingers crossed of a good find soon but bought HNR as it has a good portfolio as well as the current Mauritania hopes.
I can see the benefit of SEY, no outlay up front for potentially good royalties but forgive my ignorance with this company, what else does SEY have to offer if this doesn't come off, and where do you see the sp if it does?

The share price does not yet reflect the Mauritannia deal imo.

The Company has the acreage of gas fields which produce $1m per month, which are being worked over now to double production.

They have a $25m loan over 3 years which was used to buy the Osprey Gas Fields in January I think.

The old Fusion assests which are commercially viable which carry the same royalty deal. There are figures around with the reserve estimates probably on this bb.

They have licenses for Gabon, Guinea, Madagascar. I am sure there are more which do not come to mind. They are negotiating for trapped massive reserves of gas in the Phillipines.

Your point:- What else?

Mauritannia is propectively a Company transforming deal.

The odds seem good to me of sucess, but failure will not leave the Company without hope.

The free carry is the reason why I am investing in this company, I have nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I can not see into the future to say they will suceed, or fail.

To invest in this is simply your choice.

I also hold in HNR, and agree with your comments concerning them. HNR have generated the cash for Mauritannia by a new share issue so although they have a large portfolio, the losses would have a dynamic effect on the Company's worth.

I really can not see why so much money is invested in Mauritannia if failure was an option.

That is my opinion based on facts and the colour of the sea weed where I walk the dog. I also employ the assistance of a rabbits foot and a mystic prophecy which was given to my Great Grandfather by an Old Hag from the Emerald Isle early in the last Century.

As for Compoany P/E and SP?

I do not look at them.

Someone else may though!

a great story is going to be written about this (or perhaps a film...)

At last we now know the program and the upside is plainly obvious with a limited downside. I agree with SWW that none of this is in the price because the comapny is already a producer and the free drill rights are probably still priced at zero.

we shall see, but thx for all the recent posts.

Price drop today.

It's the wind you know!

Gives you tummy ache!

Seems to have been quite a bit of this wind going around lately! Maybe it's something we all ate!

Here is the first drilling report RNS.

They seem to have quite a wiggle on!

Hardman Resources Limited
14 September 2004

STOCK EXCHANGE / MEDIA RELEASE

RELEASE DATE: 14 September 2004

CONTACT: Ted Ellyard (08 9321 6881)

RE: MAURITANIA DRILLING PROGRAMME
WEEKLY PROGRESS REPORT


Hardman Resources Ltd ('Hardman') provides the following weekly progress report
on the Mauritania offshore drilling programme:

Dorade-1, PSC C2

The Dorade-1 well in PSC Block C2 was spudded on 12 September 2004. The drilling
rig West Navigator will drill and case the top hole section of the well. The
bottom hole, comprising the target interval, will be drilled at a later date by
the Stena Tay, the second rig working on the Mauritania programme. At 08:00 WST
(Western Australian Standard Time) the surface conductor casing had been set at
1,770 metres depth. The current operation is running in the hole with 17 1/2'
drilling assembly.

Once the top hole casing has been set the well will be temporarily suspended and
the West Navigator will move to PSC B to drill the top hole sections of the
Tevet-1, Capitaine-1 and Tiof-4 wells.

The Dorade-1 well is located approximately 165 kilometres southwest of
Nouakchott, the Mauritanian capital, and 85 kilometres south of the Chinguetti
Field. Water depth is approximately 1,670 metres and the planned total depth of
the well is 2,660 metres.

Other information:

The Stena Tay is expected to arrive tomorrow (15 September) and will drill the
Chinguetti-8 water injection well before commencing work on the exploration
program.

All reported depths are referenced to the rig rotary table (except water depth).

Hydrocarbon shows will only be reported after all required logs have been run
and evaluated.

A map showing the location of the wells will be available on the Hardman website
(
www.hdr.com.au
) and will be updated during the course of the 2004/2005 drilling
programme.

The 2004/05 drilling programme will include wells in three production sharing
contract areas (PSC's). Joint venture interests in those areas are:

Company PSC A PSC B PSC C2
Woodside group companies (operator) 53.846% 53.846% 48%
Hardman group companies 24.3% 21.6% 28.8%
BG group companies 13.084% 11.63%
Premier group companies 9.231%
Fusion Mauritania A Ltd 4.615%
ROC Oil group companies 4.155% 3.693% 3.2%
Energy Africa 20%





TED ELLYARD
MANAGING DIRECTOR

So why the drop today?

Wind

Hurricane Ivan affectung the rigs in the Gulf of Mexico.

They have been emptied aprt from necessary personnel.

I will try to find out the extent of it, but this happened for Hurricane Bonnie too, i.e. rigs empties and price drops.

Worth buying in at these prices if you were thinking about it, if you hold, batten down the hatches and think of something else!

The next one is already forming, Tropical Storm T.S. Jeanne.

What the heck is going on this year????

As far as I can see the reaction to Ivan is misplaced, if that is what has driven down the price.

Sterlings Platforms are not in the track of the storm, see below.

Hurricane Ivan Evacuation and Production Shut-in Statistics
as of Monday, September 13, 2004

Next report will be issued Tuesday, September 14, 2004 at 2:00 p.m. CDT
For Information Concerning the Storm Click on www.gomr.mms.gov

*** This survey is reflective of 15 companies reports.

Districts
Lake Jackson
Lake Charles
Lafayette
Houma
New Orleans
Total

Platforms Evacuated
2
7
6
21
18
54

Rigs Evacuated
0
1
0
12
2
15









Oil, BOPD Shut-in
0
5,775
195
24,807
68,752
99,529

Gas, MMCF/D Shut-In
0
17.8
10.3
181.68
56.30
266.08










These evacuations are equivalent to 7.07% of 764 manned platforms and 12.82% of 125 rigs currently operating in the GOM.

This shut-in oil production is equivalent to 99,529 bbls which is 5.85% of daily production of oil in GOM which is approximately 1.7 million BOPD.

This shut-in gas production is equivalent to 266.08 MMCF which is 2.16% of the daily production of gas in the GOM which is approximately 12.3 BCFPD.

The Minerals Management Service is the federal agency in the U.S. Department of the Interior that manages the nations oil, natural gas, and other mineral resources on the Outer Continental Shelf in Federal offshore waters. The agency also collects, accounts for, and disburses mineral revenues from Federal and American Indian lands. MMS disbursed more than $8 billion in FY 2003 and more than $135 billion since the agency was created in 1982. Nearly $1 billion from those revenues go into the Land and Water Conservation Fund annually for the acquisition and development of state and Federal park and recreation lands.

MMS Main Website: www.mms.gov
MMS Gulf of Mexico Website: www.gomr.mms.gov

Below, just for interest is the track of the storm.