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

I can't understand you TANKER.

How long have you held these?

You average out at 16.something and that's where the sp is, so do yourself a favour and sell out.

I am not so sure the Management are crap either, but on the other hand they are committed to loads of paper on the eventuality that the gambles at Chinguetti and now Whittier pay off, and we already know Chinguetti is a "sick puppy", producing less that one third even after remedial work at Chinguetti 18.

Yes, I know the cash they get from it is free money but it has been paid for by share placings so it really isn't free after all is it?

Now if Whittier goes tits up, Sterling will never recover, and that has a 40 well drill program this year, so there is every chance for it to shine or flop.

Not holding and not intending to.

thanks for that sea,

sea , the ceo is usless thats why holders are selling they do not like him at all . complete no hoper.

TANKER - I still don't agree with you, but each to their own.

People are selling because of the adverse publicity on ADVFN this morning where there was a bet called in by a player that the sp would not have moved beyond 16 pence in 6 months to now, it hasn't!

I wont slag off the CEO, he is a very clever man and this company does have direction, it's just that it is stalled just now over a number of factors, indicated earlier plus there is post acquisition lethargy as the companies merge together.

You can't blame the CEO for Chinguetti failures, nor the lack of successful drills in Mauritania, or even the price of oil.

As to the company strategy, no one has doubted it till recently, you could not have or you would not have bought in.

As an ex holder, I am still interested in the fortunes of Sterling, but much less worried.

I see the selling today has forced a little money men action to prop the price up, a large spread to deter punters from selling.

Don' think that will stop in now as the head and shoulders completes itself on the back of no news.

14.5pence will be the next bottom if current support fails.

All imo dyor etc.

So where is the Company Bulldog now?

sea , they only person that can stop the rot is the ceo and he has said fu-k all . very bad for the company,and holders,

Fair point TANKER

sww - do you not think there may be just a tad of end of tax year effect here. MMs lowering price to protect against eoy crystalisation of losses (or profits, lol!)

Happy Easter

22p being the 25dma, looks to be providing pretty good support, so arguably a good price to buy at

Cynic, I don't know what you are talking about - support at 22p for SEY???
It is 16p now.

your absolutely right .... my brain had obviously fallen on the floor ..... should have been posted on VML!

LOL

Stuffed if I know stockdog.


Looks somewhat adrift again.

Don't understand it, can't get my head around it, wish it was better, but it ain't!

Chinguetti still looks crap to me and that's where the money is currently.

Tullow forecast average of 22100kbopd for Chinguetti in 2007

Funny how some see this as a recovery at Chinguetti, I recall one poster shouting around a figure of 32kbopd after the remedial well at Chinguetti 18, on here once upon a time!

Wrong!

There are other items of interest to Tullow holders in particular and a few more bits on Mauritania.

Have a read.

SWW,

A poster can only post what the company themselves are saying.

Was it you then?

I did not think so......

SWW,

No it certainly wan't.

I have reduced here.

I feel management are out of touch with the market's requirements, they need to reduce the amount of paper IMO.

The persistent problems at Chinguetti, though not SEY's fault, sadly don't look as though they are going to be resolved anytime soon.

Add on some disappointing exploration results, and I don't see the same prospects as i once did.

Neither do I unfortunately.

Same reasons you have highlighted.

Good luck wherever you are just now.

SWW,

many thanks, you too.

Actually, I am mainly investing in the Canadian and Australian markets now, they seem easier to assess value, and less of the AIM MM dirty tricks evident.

For those who do not go to advfn;

http://www.thewest.com.au/default.aspx?MenuID=32Hot oil frontier loses its charm

16th April 2007, 7:45 WST


The impoverished North African country of Mauritania once a hotbed of excitement on the back of the Chinguetti oil discovery has officially lost its lure as a frontier oil province of potential world-class significance in the wake of two years of dismal exploration results, difficult geology and political volatility.



The extent of Mauritanias slide from grace was highlighted late last month when big UK independent Premier Oil announced it would sell its basket of Mauritanian interests, including its 8 per cent stake in the Woodside Petroleum-operated Chinguetti venture.

Premiers decision to quit Mauritania makes it the second major company to exit the area since the start of the year, following the lead of its bigger compatriot BG Group which exited just three years after paying $US132 million ($158 million) for 12.5 per cent of Chinguetti from former Perth market darling Hardman Resources.

Speculation is now mounting that Woodside will soon look to offload its controlling 47 per cent stake in Chinguetti and other Mauritanian acreage.

A Woodside spokesman left the door open for a sale of its Mauritanian assets, telling WestBusiness that we continue to examine all options to maximise the value of our Mauritanian holdings. Hardman, which was snapped up through a $1.5 billion friendly takeover by Londons Tullow Oil in January, put Mauritania on the map in 2001 when the Chinguetti oilfield was discovered with the first well drilled by Woodside, which had been enticed into the project by Hardman in 1998.

After the first two wells at Chinguetti indicated a likely 100 million barrel oilfield, the Chinguetti partners quickly followed up with successful multi-million barrel discoveries at the nearby Banda, Tevet and Tiof prospects. Tiof alone is estimated to contain around one billion barrels of oil in place.

On the back of those discoveries, the Woodside partners accelerated work to develop Chinguetti with enthusiastic backing from the then government which was desperate to boost its flagging national economy.

But from that point the Mauritanian adventure ran into trouble. After an initial 90 per cent drilling success rate, the Chinguetti partners drilled a string of dusters at big oil and gas targets, with only the Labeidne and Tevet Deeps targets drilled last year generating significant results.

The Chinguetti project also struck early trouble due to runaway construction and input costs which ultimately pushed the final price tag from the initial $US625 million to more than $US750 million by the time it was completed in February last year.

In between, the then president of Mauritania was ousted in a bloodless coup, and the new regime immediately accused Woodside and its partners of securing its leases through improper dealings with the previous government. The matter was settled by the payment of an upfront $US100 million profit oil bonus and additional community and environmental management commitments.

But the wind was really taken from Mauritanias sails when output at the 70,000 barrels a day Chinguetti project halved just two months after production began due to the failure of two key production wells and greaterthan-expected reservoir complexity.

The projects reserves have since been slashed to just 53 million barrels with output running at just over 20,000bpd. In January Woodside started work on the first infill well in a $100 million-plus program to incrementally improve field recoveries.

The broader potential of Mauritania has also suffered with the failure of the vaunted Heron-1 well drilled onshore in the same basin as Chinguetti by fellow Perth explorer Baraka Petroleum and its heavyweight Chinese partner CNPC. Viewed as a potential 400 million barrel target, the well intersected a thin, uneconomic layer of oil at a depth of more than 3.8km.

StockAnalysis author Peter Strachan agreed that Woodside was a likely seller of its Mauritanian assets.

Their experience at Chinguetti has been a pretty painful one they spent over a $1 billion to get that up and probably another $1.5 billion on exploration drilling all these fantastic structures but found zippo really, Mr Strachan said.

He said Woodside was most likely to seek a buyer once it had shown the infill drilling program at Chinguetti could boost production, proving reservoir complexity could be overcome.

JOHN PHACEAS

'The Eirozes-1 well has been drilled to a total depth of 2,252m. The well encountered Albian sandstones as prognosed. However, wireline logging has beencompleted and indicates the well has not encountered any significant hydrocarbons. The well is now being plugged and abandoned.'