Interactive Investor

The Oil Man: Petroceltic, Aminex, Northern Petroleum

WTI $35.89 +19c, Brent $37.87 +18c, Diff $1.98 -1c, NG $1.95 -4c

A shortish blog today as there's a number of meetings in the book; yesterday traders saw a modest rally on the back of comments from Kuwait's OPEC Governor. She said that they think a positive agreement will be reached in Doha on 17 April.

Plenty of banana skins before then, especially as the first signs of gasoline demand slipping emerged yesterday.

Petroceltic

The words "rock" and "hard place" come to mind for the Petroceltic board as they struggle with their advisors to recommend the best for shareholders - made more difficult by the examinership, which process might lead to liquidation or a total recapitalisation, with a near-total loss of equity.

Faced with this, the board seems to have had little choice but to tell shareholders to accept the offer and it must be remembered that this includes Robert Adair, who was vehemently opposed to the bid in the first place.

Having said all that, it seems extremely unlikely that Worldview, even if they want it, will get their 90%; many shareholders, particularly long-standing smaller ones, will be mighty irked to be ordered to submit to the Russkis.

If that were to happen, then it would all go back to the examiner, who will have to find a way of sorting the situation out. This may lead to Worldview finally triumphing, but maybe someone else may appear - after all, when the strategic review was being conducted, there were other interested parties in the data room.

May will probably end up seeing the denouement for PCI, one way or another…

Aminex

Slowly but surely, the news from Aminex gets better; shareholders have been getting restless, but today is a red letter day for the company.

First gas from Kiliwani North, which will ramp up to 25-30 million cubic feet per day within 100 days, will be sold to the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation at $3.07 per thousand cubic feet - and of course the company can now book reserves.

I am planning to meet with Jay in the next week or so and hope to add more flesh then but, in the meantime, things are looking up for Aminex.

Northern Petroleum

A very swift comment on Northern Petroleum, as it has been very quiet lately and I haven't met with Keith or the team for an update for a long time.

It seems that, with oil production in March reaching 432 barrels per day and three more wells coming on-stream this month, they will be achieving "material monthly revenue". In addition, the 9-25 battery, once approved, will add three more producers.

Might be interesting - more when I catch up with them.

And finally…

Readers north of the border will have mixed feelings this morning, but Rangers should be congratulated on achieving promotion back to the SPL, albeit a year late.

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.