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.

Just found this from Google, old news to us but out on the 6th in Mongolia:

PetroChina to acquire the rights to oil assets in Tamsag Basin
(TheUBPost, 06 Apr 2005 08:05 am ULAT. 0 comments)
B.Bulgamaa

PetroChina, China's top oil producer, is to pay up to US$93 million to purchase an interest in Mongolian oil assets from the British oil exploration firm SOCO International, reported SOCO on April 1.

Ed Story, President of SOCO Mongolia, said that this transaction is a very significant event for Mongolia because Daqing Oilfield, a division of PetroChina, has access to considerable resources in equipment and personnel that will greatly expand SOCO's oil exploration and development operations in Dornod aimag. "As a result, we would expect a significant increase in Mongolia's oil production," Story said.

O.Davaasumbuu, Vice Chairman of the Mineral Resources and Petroleum Authority of Mongolia, said that this deal would increase Mongolia's oil exploration and volume of oil exports. According to the agreement, Daqing Oilfield is to acquire the right to develop three territories in Tamsag Basin. Daqing Oilfield has plans to drill a minimum of eight and a maximum of twelve wells. SOCO is currently drilling four wells in Tamsag Basin.

Geologically, Tamsag Basin and Khailaar Basin form one basin. Daqing Oilfield has previously researched the oil reserves of Khailaar Basin.
PetroChina is to purchase SOCO's approximate 85-percent interest in production sharing contracts (PSCs) in Tamsag Basin. PetroChina is to pay US$40 million in cash and another US$53 million subject to total crude oil production from the PSCs exceeding 27.8 million barrels, starting from January 1, 2005, according to SOCO Mongolia.

SOCO's Chief Financial Officer Roger Cagle said that the deal represented a good return on the less than US$20 million that SOCO had invested in the oil assets.


http://ubpost.mongolnews.mn/business.php?subaction=showfull&id=1112792738&archive=&start_from=&ucat=3

I must say that I expected a better reaction from the Market in respect of this news.

Very odd.

But then this one does not go by the normal rules I suppose.

Thought it would have moved up more as well SWW, as the flow rate of 5.5k bopd was a decent one. 3 out of 4 successful wells and the 5th also spudded. But still a good result IMO. The small cap market seems hard to predict right now so maybe has something to do with today. Anyway, even if the market doesn't react as we hoped today, its still good news and adds to the size of the field.

Indeed Gav.

Back to finding trojans.................(blo*dy kids).

Blo*dy brokers

Seymour Pierce has outperform on Arena Leisure and says sell Soco International (LSE: SIA.L - news) .

http://uk.biz.yahoo.com/050407/336/ffupl.html

SWW, thanks for that. Good to see that not many are taking Seymour's advice! Although it may have put some off buying on this mornings news. If I remember correctly, Seymour put out a sell note last year when the sp was around the 3 mark. Cant see why people would want to sell at this time leading up to the results and the results from the first Vietnam well.

As far as Trojans go, I remember you were quite handy at swishing your sword at these nasty trojans!

Yes.

The kids are next on the list.................

This time is a bit different.

The malware was imported using trojans and they are resident in Win32.

Every time I remove them, the internet stops.

I have to do a retore to make it work but hat then restor the Trojans.

I am not happy keeping them on so I may have to do a compete system rebuild yet again.

Asx far as I can telll they came in with a dvd game called Half Life. To use multiplayer on the internet you have to install their equivalent of game spy,and they seem to piggy back in with them.

Easy to resolve if I kill the kids this time.

Not going to be quick this time.

Considering the state of your pc, I think the kids deserve to be next in line for the sword!

I would assume you are running Ad-Aware, Spybot and Spywareblaster on your machine? I find them to be excellent free programs.

Dont know much about the Win32 files, but that malware sounds a real pain to remove. Especially if you remove it and then cant access the internet. Perhaps someone on the PC thread in the traders room may be of help? It may save you having to do a rebuild. It does sound like a sneaky way that they are getting into your machine though. I wish you good luck in fixing it.

So own up, who just bought 65k at 485!

Gav.

I am running adawre.

coupled with the new symantec whichcan not see the malware, although they say it prevents it...............

Just got to the end of a fix and restore, with no joy. I will have to try again with fix number 3.

Hmmm...........

This i find is an excellent program. It stops spyware getting onto your pc in the first place. I highly recommend it.

http://www.javacoolsoftware.com/spywareblaster.html

I also use spybot, give it a try and see if it fixes the malware.

http://www.safer-networking.org/en/download/

Also Bazooka might be wortha try.


http://www.download.com/Bazooka-Adware-and-Spyware-Scanner/3000-8022-10247783.html

Not used the Symantec one so dont know what its like, but doesnt sound like it worked in your case. What I found with using a combination of spyware progs is that if one missed finding something then another may pick something up. Hope you get it sorted.

Thanks.

I have just solved it.

The story is..................

4 trojans malware in the registry.

24 data miners.

Ad aware killed them, and symantec has been the problem.

The latest update from them is Security Software Updates. That was the item that prevented me getting on to the Internet after the fix. So I have restored to a previous occassion, deleted the malware and quarantined it using adaware.

I will go to Symantec when I get a chance and see if they have a fix for their program, I suspect they may not know that it conflicts with XP in the way it did.

Now what are these shares doing???

Well done SWW, sounds like a nasty one to have to fix. Dont know too much about registry files but wouldnt like to go hunting in them!

I used to use Symantec, but found it kept crashing on me so changed to AVG for a/v and found it very reliable, and free! Using ZA for a firewall. Sounds to me as if you know what your doing in fixing this stuff, however, ban the kids from the pc!

On this mornings Oilbarrel.com:

08.04.2005
SOCO Still Impressed By Yemen But Exits Mongolia
SOCO International has clocked up another success in Yemen, with a successful test of the KHA-404 well on the Kharir field in the East Shabwa Development Area. The well, designed to evaluate the northern extension of the fields Basement reservoir, pumped over 5,500 barrels per day and has already been hooked up to the production facilities on the field. It makes it three out of four in the companys appraisal of the Basement reservoir, with KHA-402 testing at a rate of 550 bpd and KHA-403 testing in excess of 6,500 bpd. The first well in the current programme, which kicked off last August, KHA-401 was suspended for technical review, having encountered both oil and gas shows but inadequate fracturing to support economic development. It may be side-tracked in the future.

A fifth well, KHA-405, spudded on March 28 and is currently drilling ahead.

Through its majority-owned subsidiary Comeco Petroleum, SOCO owns a 16.785 per cent stake in the project which is operated by French oil giant TotalFinaElf (28.57 per cent). Oxy holds 28.57 per cent with 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.

There is also further exploration potential on the block, with at least two Kharrir look-alikes identified on the acreage. Not bad for a project that was deemed marginal when SOCO made its initial investment.

Meanwhile, the company has sold its Mongolian interests to Daqing Oilfield Limited, a subsidiary of PetroChina, for a total consideration of US$93 million. This will be made up of a cash payment of US$30 million, a further US$10 million in cash 18 months down the line, plus a further US$53 million when production from the assets exceeds 27.8 million barrels. The deal requires shareholder approval and its likely investors will be glad to monetize this high risk project in order to focus resources on SOCOs core projects in Yemen and Vietnam.

SOCO had been in talks with the Chinese for some time in a bid to extract some value from this difficult project in the remote Tamstag Basin of eastern Mongolia.

Speaking to oilbarrel.com in February, SOCOs deputy chief executive Roger Cagle said: The geology in Mongolia is too complex for us and aerially the project is too large for us.

The company had 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.

Over the first half of 2004, the Mongolian assets produced an average of 354 barrels of oil per day in a pilot production programme. Up to the end of 2003, the proved and probable reserves on an entitlement basis were put at 42 million barrels and crude oil sales from the pilot programme generated turnover of 1.7 million.

The proceeds from the sale could be used to strengthen SOCOs portfolio elsewhere. The company is also keen to build on its contact with PetroChina.

This transaction with Daqingis seen as the first step in greater co-operation with a Chinese industry participant who could have further interests in expanding its international role, said SOCOs president and CEO Ed Story.

A few other snippets:

http://www.thisismoney.com/news/columnists/article.html?in_article_id=399530&in_page_id=19

Soco International
Soco International is selling its Mongolian interests to Daging Oilfield Ltd, a subsidiary of PetroChina, for a total consideration of around US$93m (approx 52m). The company also announces the successful testing of its latest Yemen well.

http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2005/04/08/061.html

LONDON -- Total and partners found more oil at their Yemen-based project after drilling a third successful well there, said Soco International, a British-based oil exploration company.

The new well, which produced 5,500 barrels of oil per day, was drilled at the Kharir field in Yemen's East Shabwa area this year, Soco said.

"This marks the third consecutive success of the four wells drilled thus far in the program initiated in August 2004 to evaluate" the field, Soco said in a statement distributed Thursday through the Regulatory News Service. One of the wells had to be shut for a technical review, it said. (Bloomberg)

Rigzone piece on yesterdays news:

Soco International Thursday, April 07, 2005


Soco International's majority owned subsidiary, Comeco Petroleum, 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-404. The well was drilled as part of the continuing appraisal and development of the Basement reservoir in the Kharir Field.
The KHA-404 spudded on February 1, 2005 and reached a total depth of 3,539 meters. The objectives of the well were to delineate the Basement and evaluate
reservoir development in the northern extension of the structure. KHA-404 produced over 5,500 barrels of oil per day ("BOPD") when tested earlier this week and is now connected to Kharir's main production facilities. This marks the third consecutive success of the four wells drilled thus far in the programme initiated in August 2004 to evaluate the Basement reservoir in the Kharir Field. After the first well, KHA-401 was suspended for a technical review, the KHA-402 well tested at 550 BOPD and the KHA-403 tested at over 6,500 BOPD.
The fifth Basement well in the current ESDA drilling program, the KHA-405, spudded on March 28, 2005

Results were supposed to be released tomorrow, the 13th. Contacted the company yesterday to check if they were still being released on the 13th. They advised that they won't be out tomorrow but are now pencilled in for the end of the this month. However, they did not give a definite date.

Well someone seems keen, 40k at 494.50 just went through.

Delayed results usually means bad news. Maybe this time it is different?!!

Hi August,

The results could be delayed for any number of reasons, I didn't ask them and I'm sure they would have told me to get lost had I done so. Perhaps they were put on hold as the company were finalising the Mongolia deal? Or maybe they were delayed so they could be released along with news from the first well in Vietnam? We should hear about that by end of April I would have thought. Anyway, these are just some of my thoughts, but I'm not worried by the delay.

Looking good today, plenty of buys and makes a change to see all the AT trades are buys. And someone rolled over 20k earlier.