President Energy PLC (AIM:PPC) has moved higher after updates from its operations in Argentina and the US.
The company said its DP-2003 well in Salta, Argentina had reached its target depth, with encouraging data from the drilling.
Electric logs, which give greater and more accurate information and analysis, will be run over the Christmas period with results expected to be announced before the New Year.
The news has lifted its shares 7.03% to 2.27p, despite a less encouraging update from Louisiana.
It said: "Due to continued down hole issues out of President's control, it has now been determined to plug back the well and perforate the next oil bearing interval which had live oil shows in the logs and cores taken at the time of drilling the well. Due to holidays combined with the continued pandemic in Louisiana where only 50% of the population has been vaccinated this will now take place at the start of January. The previous post workover production prognosis remains valid."
1.26pm: Windar Photonics boosted by new order under Vestas distribution deal
Shares in Windar Photonics PLC (AIM:WPHO) have been blown higher on news of a substantial order.
The firm, which develops Light Detection and Ranging wind sensors for use on electricity generating wind turbines, has received a second volume order under its distribution agreement with Vestas Wind Systems A/S.
The order is for 89 of its latest generation WindEye 3 systems for two wind sites located in North America, with delivery expected to begin during the first quarter of 2022.
Windar chief executive Jørgen Korsgaard Jensen, said: "After announcing the first volume order of 110 WindEye 3 systems under our Vestas Distribution Agreement on 24 November 2021, I am very pleased to see this second volume order from Vestas...There remains a substantial market of potential installed turbine platforms for the company and Vestas to continue to target during the near to longer term future and in parallel we are focused on expanding this concept to additional turbine platforms."
WIndar shares are up 10.14% at 19p on the news.
12.05pm: Uniphar higher after snapping up three acquisitions
Uniphar PLC (AIM:UPR) is looking heatlhy after it went on the acquisition trail.
The Dublin-based healthcare business is buying pharmaceutical marketing agency E4H, distributor Devonshire Healthcare Services and pharmacy services firm Navi Group
The deals includes an upfront payment plus a further consideration based on achieving certain financial hurdles. Each are expected to deliver a return on capital employed in line with Uniphar's target rate of 12%-15% within three years.
The combined revenue of the acquisitions is €39mln, and Uniphar expects the deals to add mid-single digit annualised earnings.
Uniphar chief executive Ger Rabbette said: "We are delighted to announce three acquisitions today, one across each of Uniphar's divisions which accelerates our strategic objectives and demonstrates our continued focus on identifying and executing compelling M&A opportunities that meet or exceed our strict returns criteria.
"E4H's digital capabilities and innovative services advance our commercial model to become a market leading omni-channel solution for our pharma partners.
"Devonshire's strong track record in servicing the Middle East and North Africa region unlocks new opportunities for our Product Access division and demonstrates our commitment to becoming a global leader in the provision of unlicensed and difficult to source medicines.
"Navi's highly sophisticated digital offering will be leveraged throughout the Supply Chain & Retail division and demonstrates our commitment to delivering a differentiated and market-leading service offering."
Uniphar is up 4.19% or 16p at 398p.
11.00am: Kropz drops as it warns of supply chain risk to South African phosphate project
Shares in Kropz PLC (AIM:KRPZ) have come a cropper despite the African phosphate developer unveiling the first introduction of ore to the processing plant at its Elandsfontein mine in South Africa.
The next step is to ensure all the front end circuits are balanced and running stably, the company said. The flotation circuits will then be commissioned and the reagents added in due course for the production of the first concentrate. Commissioning activities will transition into full scale ramp-up of the mining and beneficiation plant over the coming six months.
But there are potential problems despite the company successfully reaching this milestone, including a delay in receiving the afformentioned reagents.
The company said: "It is anticipated that the imported reagents required for the recovery of phosphate concentrate will be delivered this month; however, the supply chain situation remains a challenge, with the recent force majeure declared by Transnet Port Terminals in Cape Town on 21 December 2021, presenting further risk to the project. The company is investigating options to off-load containers at alternative ports, and transport the commodities to the mine site by road to arrive in early January 2022."
And then there is the pandemic.
It said: "The current and further potential effects of COVID-19, and the fourth wave of infections in South Africa remains a risk to successful completion of commissioning. The company has mitigated this risk as far as reasonably practicable by compliance to the Kropz COVID-19 policies and procedures."
The company's shares are down 14.29% or 0.75p at 4.5p.
10.14am: SDX energised by drilling news from Egypt
SDX Energy PLC (AIM:SDX, OTC:SDXEF) has gushed up after a positive drilling result from Egypt.
It announced the completion of drilling at the MSD-21 infill development well on the Meseda field in its West Gharib concession in Egypt, where it has a 50% working interest.
The rig will now move to the next well in the campaign, MSD-25, which is expected to spud in early to mid-January 2022.
Chief executive Mark Reid said: ""The logs from MSD-21 are encouraging and the well will now be connected to our infrastructure and flow tested. We will update the market in the coming weeks on production rates...West Gharib is currently a very high margin asset in our portfolio and MSD-21, and subsequent wells, will boost the production and cashflow from these fields in the coming months."
The company's shares have climbed 10.83% or 0.98p to 9.98p.
9.33am: Caspian Sunrise brightens after receiving key production licence
Investors in Caspian Sunrise PLC (AIM:CASP), Kazakhstan-based oil and gas company, have received two Christmas presents in two days.
On Wednesday the company issued a positive update, including news that documentation required for an upgrade at South Yelemes had been approved and just needed the minister's signature.
Now it says it has received a 25 year production licence for the South Yelemes structure, allowing the existing wells to be reopened.
This also means the majority of production from the structure can be sold at international rather than domestic prices.
In addition production from Well 153, which started earlier this week, has increased from 830 barrels of oil per day to around 1,000. Taken together with the production expected from the existing South Yelemes wells the production capacity of the shallow structures on the BNG Contract Area is now approximately 3,000 barrels.
Caspian shares have jumped 25% to 5.5p.
8.58am: VIctoria Oil & Gas boosted by approval of Cameroon licence extension
Victoria Oil & Gas PLC (AIM:VOG) is heading higher after positive news from Cameroon.
Its subsidiary Gaz du Cameroun has received approval from the Minister of Mines, Industry and Technological Development for the extension of the Matanda Block licence by a year from this December.
Chief executive Roy Kelly said: "We are extremely pleased to have received this extension for another year and, once again, we thank the Minister and SNH for expediting this extension. The first well will be in the highly prospective onshore area where nearby wells in a similar play (in the contiguous Bomono license) underwent extended well tests and have significantly derisked these shallower plays. I am particularly pleased with the role played by our ESG team in influencing the selection of well location mindful of human and natural habitats around the wellsite.
"We face our usual challenge of mobilising land drilling equipment into the country, but most of the rigs on our shortlist are in the region."
Victoria's shares are up 7.94% at 3.4p.
Also moving in the right direction is Plexus Holdings PLC (AIM:POS), the oil and gas engineering services firm.
Its shares have climbed 6.53% to 7.99p after it was awarded a purchase order for its surface production wellhead system for a leading North Sea operator.
Plexus will receive milestone payments following the date of the signing of the purchase order through to completion. The wellhead equipment is scheduled for delivery in second quarter 2022. The contract is expected to have a duration of approximately 120 days, with most of the revenue to be booked during the Company's current 2021/22 financial year.
Chief executive Ben Van Bilderbeek said, "Securing an order for POS-GRIP wellheads in the current challenging climate is positive, particularly when one considers the long lead times associated with the award of such contracts, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the continued volatility in global oil and gas markets...
"With a growing pipeline of opportunities, we are hopeful that this latest order will prove to be a bellwether, as we start to emerge from the global COVID-19 pandemic induced malaise that has impacted our industry. Importantly, this production well order is for gas, and as the cleanest hydrocarbon to combust in terms of CO2 emissions, natural gas is increasingly viewed as a key transitional fuel, as the world moves towards net zero emissions, and operators strive to deliver on ESG commitments.
"Plexus believes that it has an important role to play in this transition process as pressure grows to eradicate harmful fugitive methane emissions from the entirety of the natural gas consumption chain, whenever and wherever possible. At the well-site, POS-GRIP's leak-proof wellheads can achieve such goals in a way that conventional wellheads cannot, and as a result, we believe our production wellhead technology delivers a compelling economic and environmental proposition for the surface production operations we are actively targeting."