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.

Lol! Recent falls weren't nice to see, but at least we came back to test the recent support and bounced very nicely off it. Lets see if the US start buying again today.

hey i am missing all the banter! do i buy this pup?

prop - have you researched it?

Would you buy a car without seeing it first??

Well, would you?

Prop, suggest you do some research on this. As far as oils go, this is the "pup" that I'm most confident about for this year. As such, it is by far my biggest holding. But then I've felt that way since last year as you know. SWW makes a good point though about research, as I'm sure you would agree.

i think he was slightly taking the piss after i announced that i had just bought a car over the net! LOL
i have looked at this on and off...

can someone please give me a two line synopsis and then i will look into this deeper.
cheers!

Drilling started in Vietnam, def 3 wells possibly 6 this year. 1st results should be late April, along with financials in April. Conoco Philips operating in same area, taking 150k or 250k bopd out of same area. I forget their exact number.

Yemen, positive results from the last drill. Looks as if they cant determine the exact size of the field. possibly bigger than they first thought. More drilling to come there.

Mongolia, probably looking to sell of their assets there, to the Chinese perhaps.

Libya, hopefully a deal involving Odex there this year. Next bidding round coming up in April I think.

Tunisia, assets their have been sold, further strengthens balance sheet. No debt on the b/s.

Recent director buying, Contini bought another 40k at 453. Pontoil own 21%ish of SIA, shares very tightly held, 71.2m.

Well worth at least a look IMO.

perfect summary...looking to put a new portfolio together an this may fir the bill.

amongst others also putting in AVE, SEO, NLR, LUP, AMEC, EMI, SEY and about half a dozen micro caps. new trading theory underway and will start the week after next.

SP easing a little now, Friday jitters for some maybe. Glad you liked the summary, was very brief but I do think they are worth some serious research if you are bullish on oils. Forgot to add, these were heavily "tipped" in the US which is why I think there has been a decent amount of US interest. The sharp rises at end of last year show how tightly held these are, when good news comes out this can move fast. Also forgot to add, possible entry to FT250 in the last round, just missed out so chance of entering next time.

Interesting stock you mention. NLR, made 30 points and thought good trade, not! Sat back and watched it soar since then! AVE still looks interesting though. SEO, dont know much about it, bit of a BB fav though? Linked to BPRG in some way? SEY, same here. AMEC and EMI seem good to trade ina nd out of.

Looking to start trading more of the large caps this year. Smalls had a great run last few years. Main holds are SIA, SEY and PLX, some ESY and took some FMJ. These are all holds into late this year and next. But never say never to any opportunity!

Back agin for a couple of minutes.

Only joking prop old chap.

The answer to the car thing was yes, so the answer to SIA is yes too, all imo etc.

After prices of 5.40 ish at the start of the week these ones below 5, now look attractive..................... to me.

SIA like SEY is one for the future, but maybe bnot too far into the future from what I can see, things are on the horizon starting on the 11th April with the prelims, if something does not happen before.

All above is my small thoughts, there is a lot to this of course, as you will find out.

cheers for the views...

ESY i am still gunning for but is a real bugger. not sure how to play it going forward. in a year they could be 60p or 450p????

agree with large cap plays, that is my bread and butter stuff.

April should be an interesting month, figs out which was confirmed via email to me by the company. First results expected from Vietnam that month, CNV-3X spudded on 29th jan and should take 60-70 days to drill. In yemen, the KHA-404 spudded on 1st Feb so awaiting these results.

Another down day.

Low volumes.

I have given up trying to work this one out.

Time for s snooze methinks..................

I found some PLR in my draw, they are doing overall, wait till tomorrow for the finals,

Have you been watching the trades SWW, the bots are at work here! Makes interesting viewing and the overall volume is low as you point out. Note the size of the AT sells, tiny amounts and the spread has narrowed considerably. When the buy bots come out then I might add some more.

Don't know what that stupid trade at 457 is all about. Just tried a dummy sale and was quoted 466 to sell.

This one defies all logic.

Still can't get a handle on it.

Results out April so something must happen then........or will it?

That guy that sold at 457 looks to have been well mugged. My take on the whole situation is that people are just sitting back and waiting for some more news. These sell bots didn't really help the short term situation and may have induced some more people to sell. However, had they been buy bots them I'm sure others would have bought also. If you look at where we have came from, a bit of consolidation doesn't seem too harmful to me. Results out April and AGM in May. Should get drilling news from Vietnam, hopefully in April.

Well, the share price is certainly more volatile now we are on Sets! Or is it just coincidence and year end tax planning?

Hi August, the price action does indeed seem a bit more volatile now on Sets. What seems strange is that it doesn't seem to take many buys/sells to move the price either way. I wonder if this is down to some having DMA. The recent move down was, I thought on light volume with AT sells. As to your year end tax planning question, you may be right but I don't know.

gavdc,

I must say I find the spread very confusing now. One minute it is 468/478, the next it is 469.5/470.
Hard to tell where the mid is, and what the true underlying movement in the price is. ADVFN and this site give differing interpretations of the same facts. Maybe I shall have to try level 2 to find out, although as I only trade once a quarter or less, it hardly seems worthwhile.

Hi August,

The spread is indeed confusing, 10p at some times near the open then narrows over the day to 0.5p which I have never seen here! Well up until now that is! My take on the sp action currently is that the AT trades are in control of the price and they are dictating it up or down. I dont look at the trades on Advfn so can't comment on what they show. But it is confusing. As for L2, I dont have it so dont know what it is showing right now, but agree it does not seem worth it if you only trade once a quarter. Anyone else got any thoughts on this?