This morning, Falklands operating oil and gas group Desire Petroleum (LON:DES) unveiled the findings of a recently completed competent person's report (CPR) update on the Elaine and Isobel prospects.
The report estimated the best case un-risked prospective recoverable oil resources net to the company at 312 million barrels.
Desire also noted that the planned development of the Sea Lion discovery demonstrates the commerciality of major discoveries in the basin and it is optimistic that the Elaine and Isobel prospects can deliver significant value.
“We are delighted that our prospect inventory continues to strengthen and that some of the best remaining potential in the North Falkland Basin is within licence PL004 in which Desire has a strong equity position,” said chairman of Desire Stephen Phipps.
“As our prospect inventory matures, we will be seeking industry partners to participate in further exploration of our licences and the quality of prospects like Elaine and Isobel provides a strong platform for success.”
Sector peer Caza Oil & Gas (LON:CAZA) announced that drilling has now started on its Copperline Bone Spring prospect in New Mexico.
The Caza Ridge 14 State No.3H horizontal well, which is the initial test well at Copperline, was spudded on August 11.
The primary target is the 3rd Bone Spring Sand at a vertical depth of around 11,315 feet.
“Drilling and completion costs have come down significantly in the Bone Spring play due largely to competition amongst contractors for drilling and fracture stimulation contracts, which is good news for Caza,” said chief executive of Caza Michael Ford.
“Positive drilling and production reports continue to come from other companies focused on this play, which has Caza's management increasingly enthusiastic about drilling the Bone Spring projects in the company inventory.”
Staying in oil and gas, Victoria Oil & Gas (LON:VOG) predicted this morning that its Logbaba gas project in Cameroon’s second city, Douala, will be cashflow positive in October, while the group as a whole will reach this financial position a month later.
VOG ships gas from the project to industry in the area via a pipeline, which is being developed in three phases, with the first of those already complete.
So far VOG has continuous production of 1 million standard cubic feet a day and expects that figure to rise to 5 million by the year-end, which represents a downgrade from the previously forecast 8 million standard cubic feet.
However this appears simply to be a timing issue as chairman Kevin Foo is confident of reaching the next landmark of 20 million cubic feet of gas by the end of 2013.
In the mining sector, Barrick Gold said yesterday that it is in preliminary talks to sell its stake in African Barrick Gold (LON:ABG) to China Gold.
Meanwhile, Ortac Resources (LON:OTC) said the pre-feasibility study for its Šturec gold project in Slovakia is making strong progress and fellow gold miner Stratex International (LON:STI) released its interim results.
The Šturec project has a resource of 1.36 million ounces of gold equivalent including more than one million ounces in the measured and indicated categories.
“The technical studies at the Šturec deposit are reaching a stage of maturity that will enhance the Company's knowledge of the project's fundamentals with respect to the economics as well as the partnerships that can be forged through the responsible development of this resource,” said chief executive of Ortac Vassilios Carellas.
“With the near term completion of key milestones in the pipeline for Ortac, we remain in a strong position to achieve our strategic objectives.”
The company is aiming to complete the study by the end of the first quarter of 2013.
In its half-yearly report, Stratex said it has achieved positive exploration results in Turkey, Ethiopia and Djibouti, noting that the total gold discovered to date is 2.26 million ounces.
In Turkey, the resource estimate for the Oksut project has topped one million ounces. The company has also secured a partner for the Muratdere copper project and made progress towards production at the Inlice and Altıntepe gold projects.
Meanwhile, results from initial drilling at the Blackrock project in Ethiopia have confirmed extensive gold mineralisation across four of five key targets in Black Water area.
On the financial front, the company has significantly reduced its pre-tax losses, which fell to £707,411 from £984,468 a year earlier.
Stratex has also conducted a successful share placing to raise £7.9 million and had more than £7 million in the bank at the end of June.
In other news in the sector, Ruukki Group (LON:RKKI) said production fell 20.1 percent to 74,181 tonnes in the second quarter due to the Eskom buyback programme and revenues declined 29.7 percent to €31.3 million, while EBITDA jumped 132.7 percent to €3.9 million.
“I am pleased to report an improved underlying financial performance by the group for the second quarter and the first half of 2012 despite the ongoing difficult market conditions,” said chief executive of Ruukki Thomas Hoyer.
“The group's increased focus on niche, higher margin speciality alloy products is starting to show results.
“Ruukki is weathering the very challenging market conditions well and this demonstrates the robustness of our business model, placing us in a strong position for when the markets begin to recover.”
In the meantime, potash group Sirius Minerals (LON:SXX) has submitted an application for a marine license for the extraction of potash minerals beneath the seabed within its offshore project area.
The potash minerals lie in seams below the seabed and would be accessed via tunnels from onshore.
The submission of the application is part of the consenting process for the York potash project and is only implementable if a forthcoming onshore application results in the granting of planning permission.
“This is an important license that the project will require in the long term,” said managing director and CEO of Sirius Chris Fraser.
“In parallel with this being determined, we continue to work up the detailed onshore application which will be preceded by extensive public consultation in the coming months.”
Elsewhere in the markets, Iofina (LON:IOF) has successfully commissioned he IO No.1 plant based on its WET IOsorb technology, which it said was a significant milestone for the group.
The plant is located in iofina’s Southwest Operations Group, which consists of the states of Colorado, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.
According to the company, the commissioning will be the catalyst for the construction and commissioning of many more successful plants in its targeted regions over the coming year.
Finally, Planet Payment (LON:PPT) said its net revenues rose 10 percent to US$21.8 million in the first half of the year as consolidated gross billings climbed 23 percent to US$57.7 million and foreign currency mark-up increased 25 percent to US$50.2 million.
Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) for the first half came in at US$1.9 million compared with the US$2.6 million posted for the first half of 2011.
The company noted that its financial performance was impacted by a number of factors and the challenging economic climate led to a decline in net revenue per merchant location.
“During the first half of 2012, we continued to execute our strategy and invest in new business and markets, building a strong pipeline for the future,” said chairman and CEO of Planet Payment Philip Beck.
“As demonstrated by our new customer launches, the market for our services remains strong as we continue to build our business.”