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.

Hi Goldfinger,

Still here, still holding, still happy, just not as much time to post as before. Hopefully CNV-4X result shouldn't be too far away. A rally to end 05 similar to 04 would go down well before Christmas!

Gav

CNV-4X RNS from this morning:

Soco International PLC
01 December 2005




SOCO International plc ('SOCO' or 'the Company')

HIGH PRESSURE HYDROCARBON ENCOUNTER/SUSPENSION OF CNV-4X


SOCO is an international oil and gas exploration and production company,
headquartered in London traded on the London Stock Exchange and a constituent of
the FTSE 250 Index. The Company has continuing interests in Vietnam, Yemen,
Libya, Thailand and the Republic of Congo with ongoing production operations in
Yemen.



The appraisal well on the Ca Ngu Vang ('CNV') structure on Block 9-2 offshore
Vietnam, the CNV-4X, has encountered an oil and gas interval with unexpected
high pressure in the Oligocene E Sequence, the sandstone sequence overlying the
Basement objective, and has been temporarily suspended. The joint venture
partners decided to suspend the well, which spudded on 31 August, following the
loss of the 12 1/4' hole section above the granitic Basement reservoir. The
pressures encountered were significantly higher than those seen previously on
the other CNV wells.



The well encountered a gross 370 metre vertical section of oil shows with
attendant gas through the Oligocene 'E' sandstone section, based on mud logs,
drilling cuttings analysis and LWD logs. The use of higher than anticipated mud
weights to control the encountered pressures led to problems higher in the open
hole section where the drill string became differentially stuck while pulling
out of the hole to run casing into the top of Basement. Numerous attempts to
fish the stuck drill string have been unsuccessful. Plans are underway to
incorporate a different drilling fluid and casing design into the programme to
enable the overpressured section to be redrilled safely.



The rig will be moved immediately to drill a follow-up appraisal well to the
9,432 barrels of oil equivalent per day TGT-1X well drilled earlier this year on
the Te Giac Trang ('TGT') structure. It will be the fourth well in the
multi-well drilling programme which began this year in Vietnam. The rig will
return to Block 9-2 following completion of the appraisal programme in Block
16-1.



Ed Story, President and Chief Executive of SOCO, commented:



'This bodes well for the high prospectivity of Block 9-2 as the CNV-4X well is
only the second location in the Cuu Long Basin that has encountered such good
oil and gas shows in the E Sequence sandstones. This adds significant remaining
exploration potential to Block 9-2 as the Oligocene section has been identified
and mapped over other prospects on the Block. Time spent drilling in Block 16-1
will afford us the opportunity to obtain the necessary materials to return to
Block 9-2.



The recent TGT-1X discovery and our experience in the Oligocene section of the
CNV-4X well underscores the significant potential of these two acreage positions
on either side of the giant Bach Ho field. '

1 December 2005




ENQUIRIES:


SOCO International plc
Roger Cagle Tel: 020 7747 2000
Deputy Chief Executive and Chief Financial Officer

Pelham Public Relations
James Henderson Tel: 020 7743 6673
Charles Vivian Tel: 020 7743 6672





NOTES TO EDITORS:



SOCO holds its interests in Vietnam, all in the Cuu Long Basin offshore, through
its 80% owned subsidiary SOCO Vietnam Ltd ('SOCO Vietnam'). SOCO Vietnam holds
a 25% working interest in Block 9-2, which is operated by the Hoan Vu Joint
Operating Company and a 28.5% working interest in Block 16-1, which is operated
by the Hoang Long Joint Operating Company.

Numis maintain their hold rating:

Soco Update Mildly Encouraging -Numis>SIA.LN

Thursday, December 01, 2005 4:52:14 AM ET
Dow Jones Newswires


0836 GMT [Dow Jones] Soco International's (SIA.LN) drilling update "enhances the prospects of the other parts of the block" and is thus "overall mildly encouraging" says analyst Andrew Whittock at Numis. Had been hoping for the chance to upgrade forecasts but keeps them unchanged as the appraisal of the CNV discovery has been delayed until next year. Has hold rating on the stock. Shares +2.7% at 767.75p. (PBA)

http://www.newratings.com/analyst_news/article_1144044.html

I picked up this from another board.
0819 GMT [Dow Jones] Seymour Pierce upgrades Soco International (SIA.L) to outperform from hold. Says the company will deliver good news in the next few months on its Vietnam operations, says Seymour Pierce after discussions with management. Says two prospects in Vietnam could be worth 400p on net asset value. Also three wells in Yemen could be worth 100p/share total.'
Shares been on the move since last few weeks. Looks very attractive as a longterm hold.

Very pleased with this one. Things are looking up again.

cheers GF.

Has this been suspended this am?
My spreadbetting provider says it has, but can't see an RNS to confirm.

House broker Bridgewell Securities finally came out with a 16 page report on the Company today. A buy recommendation (naturally enough) but a thorough investigation into the Company - the first brokers to do such a comprehensive look into Soco.
I think there should be a similar report coming out from Merrill Lynch soon followed by the Final results in early March.
Don't be surprised if they are well above 10 by then.

I wont, Im still in and enjoying every minute of it.

Cheers GF.

Still holding and its still doing the business. Seems like everyones forgotten this one. Still who cares.



cheers GF.

Still motoring on up.

cheers GF.

Excelent results..

Profits gush as Soco Int'l
MoneyAM
Soco International reported bumper profits in 2005 following soaring oil prices and increased oil reserves after exploration success in Vietnam and Yemen.

It also flowed a further 3,300 barrels of oil per day at the Te Giac Trang field in Vietnam after carrying out additional appraisal work on the area.

In the year to December 2005, the group's pretax profit from continuing operations rose 125% to $33.7m from $14.9m last time, while revenues grew 90% to $57.2m from $29.4m.

Annual production increased to 5,684 bopd from 5,533 bopd in the previous year.

Exploration success in Vietnam and Yemen raised the group's oil reserves by 75 million barrels, more than offsetting the effect of the disposal of its interest in a Mongolian field.

Ed Story, the CEO, considered 2005 a 'great year' for the group.

Looking ahead, he believes 2006 will be a 'banner year' for the business after a series of exploration success at its key oil fields.

'The outlook is extremely positive for continued reserve growth in 2006,' he added.

Soco will be spending a record $100m this year for exploration and development work.

cheers GF.

Superb set of results and very bullish (by Soco standards) outlook for 2006.
Still very major upside potential as brokers update their forecasts etc.
There was an investor presentation to Merrill Lynch last month. I think that, armed with all the information today, the resultant report from ML should get a swathe of new investors into the Company.

Superb performance so far today as shares touch 900p for the first time.
Instead of taking some profits I have actually topped up at 888p !!!!
There is a Vietnam drilling report next week (which the CEO has already hinted will be excellent) and, IMO, we are looking at well over 10 quite soon.

;o)

WOW just seen it.

cheers Gf.

Having digested the full statement over the weekend I have come to the conclusion that a short term target of around 12.50 is perfectly acheivable.
The drilling update from Vietnam will have analysts scurrying to revise the NAV of the company.
This is a steal at current prices IMO.

;o)

Nicely up again Ian. Its been a steal this one for a long time, its like the header says, but hey who cares.

cheers GF.

I believe the Vietnam drilling update will be released tomorrow morning.

Should be quite lively 8am onwards !!!!!!!

;o)

Ian, you know your stuff. Bloody hell and Im supposed to be on holiday for the Cheltnham racing week. Oh well another 6am start AGGH.

cheers GF.

Day late, but yes it is lively with the sp.

Great result.

Having re-assessed all the projects that are currently in the pipeline (so to speak) I come to the conclusion that the NAV of the Company is at least 15 (on an unrisked basis) which still leaves huge scope for upward revision once more drilling news is forthcoming.
I notice that the SP is now comfortably over 11.
There is a lot more to go.

;o)