Oil and gas news summary: Xcite Energy, Nautical Petroleum, Tangiers Petroleum, President Petroleum, Wentworth Resources, Max Petroleum, New World Oil & Gas

This week, North Sea explorer Xcite Energy (LON:XEL) updated investors on the approval process for the work programme for its Bentley field and amended its rig contract to better suit the planned work at Bentley.

On Wednesday, Xcite said the UK Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) had confirmed its support for the Bentley development plan.

Xcite expects the DECC to approve phase 1 of the development in the near future.

Xcite will then be able to start work in sufficient time to achieve first oil in the first half of this year, it explained.

The Bentley field development plan was submitted to the DECC back in August. In December, however, it reconfigured its approach to the development by splitting the first phase into two parts - 1A and 1B.

Later in the week, the company amended its rig contract for Phase 1B of the Bentley oil development programme, which will better suit the work planned.

Chief executive Richard Smith described the amendment as "a very good outcome" for the company.

The contract for the jack-up rig is with Rowan Companies and the changes give Xcite greater flexibility, it said.

The original contract was for a fixed 240 day initial period for the Phase 1A work programme, starting from the rig arriving at Bentley in the North Sea, followed by six consecutive one year extension options.

The amendment to the contract includes the ability to shorten the 240 day initial period for Phase 1A, thereby reducing its financial commitment if completion of the work programme is ahead of schedule.

Fellow North Sea operating firm Nautical Petroleum (LON:NPE) also updated investors on its activities. The group has returned to its previously operated Block 3/27a in the North Sea, having acquired a 25 percent interest in Licence P1756, which hosts the Hydra prospect.

The company bought the 25 percent stake from operator First Oil Expo, which currently holds a 100 percent interest in the licence. The deal is subject to approval by the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC).

“We are delighted to be returning to this block. We have extensive knowledge of it and look forward to further investigating, with First Oil Expro, its prospectivity at both the Tertiary and Jurassic levels,” said chief executive of Nautical Petroleum Steve Jenkins.

Other news in the oil and gas sector included the flotation of Tangiers Petroleum (ASX:TPT)  on the AIM market and well spud announcements from President Petroleum (LON:PPC) and Wentworth Resources (LON:WRL).

On Friday, Tangiers started trading on London’s Alternative Investment Market under the ticker code TPET (LON:TPET), complementing its Australian listing.

Together with its ASX listing, the AIM listing provides the company with a strong platform from which to strengthen its shareholder base and increase its international profile, it said in a statement.

Following its recently announced A$6.35 million placement to UK, North American and Australian investors, the company is well positioned to unlock the potential of its oil and gas exploration projects in Morocco and Australia.

Meanwhile, President Petroleum has spudded the second well of its drilling campaign in Argentina following the successful PEE-1001 well at the Pozo Escondido field, which hit oil a fortnight ago.

The company has now started drilling the DP-1001 well on the Dos Puntitas field on its Puesto Guardian concession.

The spud announcement came only a day after President raised net proceeds of £5.9 million via a share placing to accelerate its exploration activities and expand operations in Argentina following “encouraging" drilling results.

“Our Argentine acquisition is providing considerable running room across the spectrum of production, appraisal, and exploration. We look forward to continuing to grow this business during 2012,” said interim chairman of President Petroleum John Hamilton.

In its operational update, Wentworth Resources said it has spudded the onshore Ziwani-1 exploration well on the Mnazi Bay licence onshore Tanzania, in the Rovuma basin.

The well is being drilled near the coast within the Rovuma basin. Mnazi bay is already known to host hydrocarbons, and two gas fields have already been established in the area. The last well in Mnazi Bay was drilled in 2007.

In recent years a number of majors have made very large gas discoveries in the Rovuma basin, offshore in deep waters.

Ziwani-1, the fifth well to be drilled in Mnazi Bay, is located 13 kilometres from the Mnazi Bay and Msimbati gas fields. It will be drilled to a depth of 1,800-2,500 meters. And it is targeting Miocene and Oligocene sandstones, which are similar to the reservoirs of the nearby gas fields.

In the meantime, Tower Resources (LON:TRP) expects to spud the Mvule-1 well on EA5 licence area in Uganda within the next six to nine days.

The company reported that its wholly owned subsidiary Neptune Petroleum has started mobilisation of the OGEC K900 drilling rig to the location of the well, which is targeting a resource potential of 80 million barrels.

Preparation of the site is nearing completion and rigging up is about to begin.

The well is expected to reach its total depth of 600 metres within two weeks of the spud date.

Another operational update came from Max Petroleum (LON:MXP), which reported flow test results from two of its wells in Kazakhstan, which will soon be placed on long term test production.

The SAGW-1 well on the Sagiz West Field in Block E flowed at a stable rate of 430 barrels per day from the Triassic reservoir over a 17 hour period, Max said in an operational update this week.

Only last week, Max spudded the SAGW-3 appraisal well on the field, targeting Triassic reservoirs.

Max had reported in December that the first appraisal well for the Sagiv West discovery, SAGW-2, did not encounter producible hydrocarbons.

In other news, New World Oil & Gas (LON:NEW) has amended its farm-in deal over the Blue Creek project in Belize to increase its stake in the project.

The amendment will give New World a larger stake in the project at an earlier stage in its development. In return it will cover the cost of additional seismic work.

"We are delighted with the amendment to the FOA, as it delivers New World an additional 10% working interest in the Blue Creek PSA in return for additional seismic work that will be applied towards further high-grading our prospects,” said chief executive William Kelleher.

“As a result, before we elect whether to proceed to the drilling phase, we will have earned a 35% interest in the highly prospective Blue Creek Project.”

Elsewhere in the sector, US-focused oil group Caza Oil & Gas (LON:CAZA, TSE:CAZ) said it may take its New Mexico acreage horizontal after good results from other similar drilling nearby.

Chief executive W Michael Ford said that it intends to “target these oil and liquids-rich opportunities within our inventory”.

Caza has a 40% working interest and a 32% net revenue interest in the Mud Slide Slim well in New Mexico, which has been producing gas since 2008.

This prospect includes the Bone Spring horizontal play where a host of other producers have been drilling wells in the past 18 months.

Finally, the friendly takeover of Dominion Petroleum (LON:DPL) by Ophir Energy (LON:OPHR) has now become effective after the Supreme Court of Bermuda sanctioned the transaction, Dominion said this week.

This follows the approval last month from the relevant competition authorities in Kenya.

The deal was first announced in October last year when Dominion recommended the all-share offer worth 5.9 pence per share which valued its shares and convertible loan notes at £118.2 million.