New Projects and good prospects. will be the winner in 2004. IMO
25p in early 2004

Tempting!

Nothing wrong with taking a profit. But depends what level of profit you're happy with and what you feel the future holds.

Just found this on the Telegraph:

"Bid rumours were rife for oil and gas explorer Petroceltic. It jumped 2 to a 12-month high of 16.5p as volumes reached 12m shares."

I would assume this means the Algeria bid and not an actual bid for the company?

So it means that they have been awarded for definate the permit or they have to keep on bidding. Soz im not that conversant with this

Xmortal: From the RNS:

Petroceltic International Plc is pleased to announce that it has been awarded
the Isarene Permit (blocks 228 & 229 A) in the 5th Algerian International
Licensing Round which closed yesterday.

Reading that, to me it reads that they have been awarded the permit for that area. Should there be a 6th round, then I think PCI would be able to bid for other areas as well.

HOT STUFF!!!

WE LOOKING 20P MARK TODAY

Just found on Business World :

Petroceltic wins Algerian gas licence
Thursday, July 29 09:05:51

(BizWorld)

Petroceltic has been awarded major gas blocks in the fifth Algerian international licensing round.

The company has been awarded the Isarene Permit (blocks 228 & 229 A) which covers more than 10,000 sq kms.
"Six wells already drilled in the blocks have flowed gas of up to 25 m cubic feet a day," the company said, adding that other wells drilled in the northern permit area have had oil indications.


Information provided by Sonatrach, the Algerian state oil company, states that there are existing discovered reserves of 380 bn cubic feet (bcf) of gas with possible resources in excess of 4 trillion cubic feet of gas (tcf) and of more than 400 m barrels of oil in the Isarene permit, it added.

"The company is considering an aggressive drilling strategy in 2005 to prove up the potential of the area," said chairman Brian Cusack.

The company said it believes that shallow drilling depths and the nearness of the location to an operating major gas infrastructure means the resources can be proved up and commercialised quickly and at a relatively low cost.

The Isarene permit will be operated through a production sharing contract with Petroceltic and Sonatrach as 75 pc/25 pc partners, respectively.

IT SHOULD GO TO 20P AT LIST TODAY,TOMOROW WILL BE VERY GOOD

I GOING TO TOP UP AGAIN,,MORE GOOD NEWS ON THE WAY GUYS,,

From RTE News:

Petroceltic wins major gas blocks in Algeria

July 29, 2004 12:53
AIM listed oil and gas exploration company Petroceltic International has been awarded the Isarene Permit (blocks 228 and 229A) in the fifth Algerian International Licensing Round, which closed yesterday.

The permit covers over 10,000 square kilometres in area and is located in the prolific Illizi Basin of southern Algeria. This basin contains giant producing oil and gas fields.

The Isarene permit will be operated through a production sharing contract with Petroceltic and Sonatrach, the Algerian state oil company, as 75-25% partners. The company has a commitment to drill one well, starting in September. It is also reviewing plans to drill a number of wells next year.


Sonatrach says there are existing discovered reserves of 380 billion cubic feet of gas with possible resources in excess of 4 trillion cubic feet of gas and of over 400 million barrels of oil in the Isarene permit.

The target reservoirs are at shallow drilling depths and the permit area is less than 100kms from established and operating major gas infrastructure. Petroceltic says it believes the resources can be commercialised quickly and at a relatively low cost.

Petroceltic's Chairman Brian Cusack says the winning of the permit reflects the growing reputation of the company in the Mediterranean area. He said the move furthers the company's strategy to acquire acreage with substantial upside in the short term at not great cost.

He added that Petroceltic is considering an aggressive drilling strategy in 2005 to prove up the potential of the area.

Got a mention in The Times today
under Talking points

Morning all. Someone has just dumped 2.5 million.

Morning all,

Thanks for that Patsym. Will look for it.

Markets



July 30, 2004

Talking points



Smaller stock to watch



Petroceltic International, the AIM-listed oil and gas vehicle, added p to 17p, on securing its largest permit after a licensing round in Algeria. It was been awarded the Isarene permit, which covers 10,000sq km in the south of the country. Other successful bidders included larger oil majors such as Statoil, Repsol, Sinopec and BHP/Woodside.

Cheers Patsy. Quite a bit of press attention the last few days. Hopefully we will get some more over the weekend.

I might even drink to that (tonight of course)

Think I may be tempted to have a drink myself tonight! Just found this from the Lebanon's Daily Star:

8 Algerian oil exploration bids awarded

By Daily Star Staff

Friday, July 30, 2004


BEIRUT: Eight out of 10 perimeters in Algeria have been awarded to foreign oil firms after the fifth exploration bid during a ceremony attended by Algeria's Energy and Mining Minister, Chakib Khelil.

19 bids were made by 14 international petroleum companies, including 3 consortiums. Stiff competition was focused on the Hassi Mouina perimeter, with 7 bids, with Statoil coming out on top.

The second most attractive perimeter was that of Gassi Chergui West (Berkine), with three bids, won by Repsol-Gas Natural consortium.

As for the remaining perimeters, Ksar Hirane went to BHP-Wood Side consortium, El Mezaid to CNPC (China), El Hadjira and Guerara to SINOPEC, Aghreb to Amerada Hess, while Isarene was awarded to Petroceltic. The perimeters failing to receive any bid were Melrhir and Agreb in the south-west.

Commenting on the process, Khelil described the results as "excellent," adding it was the best ever outcome since the implementation of the bid process. - The Daily Star

Morning all,

Saw this yesterday from the Sundat Business Post:

High-risk oil shares may pay off

01/08/04 00:00

By Eamon Quinn
Surging crude oil prices and positive news announcements sent Irish oil explorers' shares gushing to all-time highs last week, but analysts and industry observers are divided on whether the high-risk bets will continue to pay out.

The junior oil sector has been the star performer and has continued to attract investor interest through the summer as stock market returns have flagged.

At $41 a barrel, world crude oil prices peaked at a new 21-year high last week, underlining that high energy costs are here to stay.

Despite more oil being pumped from the Saudi Arabia-led Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) and by Russia, the world's second largest exporter, hedge fund investors have bet that the major oil producers will fail to pump enough oil for long enough to cap prices.





High prices have sparked a new investor oil rush and the winners on stock markets have been many energy exploration companies which have advanced plans to drill for new reserves.

``It's a very exciting area,'' said Stuart Draper, head of research at Dolmen Securities.

``There are a number around which will likely pick up because many of these companies have the cash raised to do the drilling.

``High energy prices have helped their valuations and any success, given that they are drilling now, will be rewarded,'' he said. Draper has ranked the prospects of the Irish energy explorers in the following order: Petroceltic International, Pan Andean and Providence Resources.

Petroceltic shares, which have more than tripled this year, hit a new all-time high last week of 18.5 pence sterling after the company won a ``milestone'' contract in Algeria.

The company, which has extended its reach beyond offshore Ireland, has promising interests in Tunisia and Italy where it will start drilling later this year. Its shares soared last June when it acquired stakes in two Italian oil permits.

``I think it has further to go on low-risk prospects,'' said Draper. ``It has good management and attractive deal potential. The exciting one this year is Tunisia where they are drilling this autumn and the really exciting one is their ability to use equity they have now to buy in some attractive assets.''

Petroceltic told its shareholders last April that its evaluation of the Sidi Toui oil prospect in Tunisia was ``very encouraging'' and that it was looking to fast track the development of a prospect at the Old Head of Kinsale in the Celtic Sea.

However, it will not start drilling there this year. Draper forecasts the stock could rise as high as 30 pence sterling by the end of the year if drilling in Tunisia proves positive.

Industry participants caution that buying assets in North Africa and other relatively risk-free Mediterranean countries attracted other exploration companies and that the price of acquiring assets could be high as a result.

Draper rates Pan Andean Resources, the company chaired by John Teeling, as the second best prospect among the junior Irish energy explorers.

The company has interests at Danbury Dome in on-shore Texas. It also linked to a BP-owned company in Bolivia, where it is likely to announce soon that it will start drilling, according to industry sources.

``It's cash flow positive and it makes profits. It has exciting exploration acreage in on-shore Texas and there are rumours that will get the Bolivian assets off the ground,'' said Draper. He forecasts the share price, which was trading last week at 14.75 pence sterling, could reach the mid-20s by the end of the year.

Pan Andean shares, which have risen 34 per cent this year, have fallen back from the all-time high of 24.75 pence they hit in late February.

Draper ranks Providence Resources, third among the Irish energy explorers. It is a riskier investment because the prospects for the company, whose major shareholder is Tony O'Reilly, lies with the success of this year's drilling in Blackrock off Cork.

Providence shares, which have climbed 66 per cent this year, hit an all-time high of 6.5 cent in Dublin last Friday.

``If it is successful it will be fantastic. If it is a failure then they will be struggling. The price could be into the double digits given a successful outcome in Blackrock,'' said Draper.

Among the higher risk bets, Petrel Resources is hoping that its hard and dangerous work in Iraq will pay off. Petrel chairman John Teeling and chief executive David Horgan told shareholders last week the company is focusing on two of three bids to develop oil fields in northern and mid-Iraq.

News of whether Petrel has won the contracts will be known soon. Petrel shares have climbed 87 per cent this year to 46 pence sterling. The shares had hit a record high of 52 pence in mid-July.

PCI get a write up on Oil Barrel this morning re the Algerian deal. Worth reading.

http://www.oilbarrel.com/home.html