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

creeping up on decent volume...

they were 18.5 bid as i posted! now offered there...

Still private investors jumping ship after the RHPS 'Sell' recommendation. They'll be buying them back at 20p after the results.

Watch out guys. If the weathermen have got it right then Hurricane Rita (currently tropical storm Rita) is heading towards Texas once it has hammered the Florida keys. If I recall correctly Sterling has serious facilities in that area of the gulf. Of course it could be a buying oppo if it goes off course - but if i was in SEY (and i have nearly bought on a number of ocassions) I would keep an eye on the weather.

rgrds
gk

digital look strong buy recommendation today

Mustang Island is more or less in the path.

http://www.rigzone.com/news/article.asp?a_id=25384 Bit more information



regards

Doesn't look too good right now.

"Out in the warm waters of the Gulf, Rita is expected to reach Category 3, with 111 mph sustained winds, by Wednesday, and could intensify even more, forecasters said. A strike somewhere along the Gulf Coast is certain, unless the storm breaks up.

If Rita reaches hurricane status, it will be the ninth hurricane in the busy 2005 Atlantic season, which has already seen 17 named storms, with more than two months left to go."

http://www.cnn.com/2005/WEATHER/09/20/rita/

IIRC, Katrina reached Category 4.

On a more positive note from this mornings HNR update:

"The Chinguetti oil development in Mauritania is now 88% complete. First oil is
estimated for February 2006."

Gav, lets put Riota into pewrspective.

If it's 111mph winds, it will be 1/3 as powerful as Katrina, the platforms in the Gulf are no doubt buil;t to expect such winds so although there may be a shutdown, I expect there to be no other real problems.

As regards landfall, well, we will have to wait and see but again the buildings and infrastucture must be geared for this type of storm.

Ever optomistic because I would not like a repeat of Katrina and this time I am sure it will not be.

I am hoping for 17p buy in for some more though.

SWW, neither would I like to see another hurricane hit the area, not good for anybody, especially those affected by Katrina. We only have to remeber the pictures from TV to see the damage it caused.

From memory and if I am wrong someone can correct me, but Katrina was a cat 4 hurricane with winds of around 140mph. So if and it's a big if this reaches cat 3 with 111 mph winds then it may not be as strong but still could present a problem. I understand BP and Shell have already evacuated staff from some of their platforms in the area. Also worth noting that when Katrina first came to everyone's attention, many forecasters thought it would miss the GoM, which it did not. As to what happens here, we will have to wait and see.

It wqas a cat 5...................

My keyboaord still can't speel

SWW

Was Cat 5 then downgraded to 4.

Pedantically yours,

Nam

Missed it.

I'll shut yup.

5000 posts soon. nothing else to say today...

SWW,

Welll we've had a military coupe, and then Hurricane Katrina, and survived, surely we deserve to be spared another one?

Clearly if it does hit Texas it will cause some concern, let's hope the course changes, or preferably it blows itself out.

Dont ask me.

I'm not sending them there..............

Part of an intresting read. Have Oil Stocks Finally Had it?

I'm Louis Navellier, and I'm not going to predict an oil
collapse. That would be foolish.

But I am worried, and you should be, too. Because the era of
cheap oil is over. Demand from China and India and the fallout
from Hurricane Katrina have proven that, despite what you've been
reading about new Alaskan oil reserves...new gas mileage standards...and
new oil wells coming on line.

Which is why investors who are selling their oil stocks-or
worse, selling them short-in anticipation of a collapse are going
to be in for the shock of their lives!

Shocked as oil prices correct slightly and skyrocket higher...
Shocked as they see oil profits explode again...
And, perhaps worst of all, shocked as they miss out on the
next-and most profitable-phase of the oil boom, as visionary
investors make a decade's worth of profits over the next two to
three years.

The effects will not be felt till after close on Friday, if it lanfalls along the Texas Coast.

Rita now upgraded to cat 4 hurricane. Oil and gas prices on the move upwards again.

Wednesday September 21, 2005 1:46 PM


AP Photo FLJC112

By MICHELLE SPITZER

Associated Press Writer

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) - Rita intensified into a Category 4 hurricane Wednesday with wind of 135 mph, deepening concerns that the storm could devastate coastal Texas and already-battered Louisiana by week's end.

Wednesday September 21, 2005 1:46 PM


AP Photo FLJC112

By MICHELLE SPITZER

Associated Press Writer

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) - Rita intensified into a Category 4 hurricane Wednesday with wind of 135 mph, deepening concerns that the storm could devastate coastal Texas and already-battered Louisiana by week's end.

Wednesday September 21, 2005 1:46 PM


AP Photo FLJC112

By MICHELLE SPITZER

Associated Press Writer

KEY WEST, Fla. (AP) - Rita intensified into a Category 4 hurricane Wednesday with wind of 135 mph, deepening concerns that the storm could devastate coastal Texas and already-battered Louisiana by week's end.

But our ability to forecast wind speed is limited,'' Landsea said. He said the storm could strengthen to Category 5 with wind in excess of 155 mph or ease to Category 3, with wind less than 130 mph

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-5292698,00.html

Rita reaches potentially catastrophic Category 5
GALVESTON, Texas (Reuters) - Sept 21, 2005

Hurricane Rita strengthened on Wednesday into a powerful, intensely dangerous Category 5 storm as it headed toward the Texas coast and prompted evacuation orders for more than a million people.


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The storm had grown into the third most intense Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by internal pressure, the U.S. National Hurricane Center said.

The hurricane center said Rita was a potentially catastrophic Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds rising to 175 mph (281 kph) over the warm waters of the Gulf of Mexico. That matched the peak strength over water of last months devastating Hurricane Katrina, which hit land as a Category 4 storm with 145-mph (233-kph) winds.

A hurricane watch was issued for the U.S. Gulf Coast from Fort Mansfield Texas, to Cameron, Louisiana. Rita was expected to come ashore late on Friday or early on Saturday as a major hurricane ... at (Category 3) or higher, hurricane center forecaster Robbie Berg said.

President George W. Bush declared emergencies for Texas and Louisiana.

Federal, state and local governments are coordinating their efforts to get ready, said Bush, who was heavily criticized for an ill-prepared federal response to Hurricane Katrina last month that killed more than 1,000 people.

We hope and pray that Hurricane Rita will not be a devastating storm, but weve got to be ready for the worst, Bush said.

Rita lashed the Florida Keys on Tuesday but did little damage to the vulnerable Florida islands.

Ritas path included the Texas coast southwest of Galveston, where in 1900