It was a busy end to the short week today. Nostra Terra Oil & Gas (LON:NTOG) appears to have shrugged off the worst of the crude decline, as the junior US producer and investor reported a 49% increase in revenue for 2014.
Revenue for the 12 months to December 31 totalled £1.26mln, versus £851,000 in the preceding year.
Elsewhere in the oil and gas sector, Falcon Oil & Gas’s (LON:FOG) hotly anticipated Australian shale exploration programme has now kicked off.
The company, which has a 30% stake in 4.6mln acres within the Northern Territory, today revealed that operations have begun at the first well location.
Meanwhile, Magnolia Petroleum (LON:MAGP) has raised £1mln that will fund its on-going drilling programme onshore in the US.
Specifically, the cash will be used to develop its operated and 94%-owned vertical wells targeting Oklahoma’s Mississippi Lime, Skinner and Red Fork formations. It has two on the slate for the second half.
In energy news, Recently-listed wind turbine technology firm Windar Photonics (LON:WPHO) met its sales targets last year and is well-placed to thrive this year.
The company, which builds laser guided units called Lidars that sit atop wind turbines and line them up properly, has beefed up its sales team across the globe and highlighted the Chinese market as a particular area of interest.
88 Energy (LON:88E) has confirmed its exit from its Moroccan project has now been officially signed off.
The company told investors it has now received the notification from the Minister for Energy and Minister for Finance, which seals the transfer of 88’s interest in the Tarfaya offshore block to Galp.
In mining news, Galantas Gold (LON:GAL, CVE:GAL) is confident on its ability to establish a sound business from the Omagh gold mine as it narrowed the loss in the first quarter.
Production at Ireland's only gold mine remains suspended and the firm is in cost cutting mode as it awaits the much-delayed outcome of the application for planning permission.
Sticking with gold, Condor Gold (LON:CNR) says a high-grade intercept to the south of its proposed La India open pit in Nicaragua hints at the untapped potential of going underground.
The latest drill campaign intercepted a 7.55 metre section grading 10.2 grams per tonne.
Condor said this indicated an extension to high grade gold mineralisation 100 metres outside the planned pit shell and next to underground resource.
Elsewhere, Kibo Mining (LON:KIBO) cited a number of positives in 2014, as it swung to a profit last year and expects plenty of newsflow ahead.
The Tanzania-focused firm has renamed its Rukwa coal to power project Mbeya and the group is now "well on the way" to completing a definitive feasibility study with joint development partner SEPCO, it said.
Meanwhile, Bushveld Minerals (LON:BMN) has agreed a new £2.6mln loan deal with Darwin Strategic to support the potential buy-out of Lemur Resources.
The company also today lodged its ‘bidders statement’ in Australia for the proposed transaction.
EMED Mining (LON:EMED) outlined plans to raise a substantial portion of the funds required to build the Rio Tinto copper operation in Spain.
It hopes bring in just shy of £65mln via a share subscription, placing and open offer of stock.
Finally, OptiBiotix Health (LON:OPTI) has come a long way in a short time, it noted in its first results statement as a listed company.
“In a short space of time we have built operational capability, progressed our development programmes, built on our IP [intellectual property] portfolio, and created multiple product and partnering opportunities,” noted Stephen O'Hara, chief executive officer of OptiBiotix.