London South East prides itself on its community spirit, and in order to keep the chat section problem free, we ask all members to follow these simple rules. In these rules, we refer to ourselves as "we", "us", "our". The user of the website is referred to as "you" and "your".
By posting on our share chat boards you are agreeing to the following:
The IP address of all posts is recorded to aid in enforcing these conditions. As a user you agree to any information you have entered being stored in a database. You agree that we have the right to remove, edit, move or close any topic or board at any time should we see fit. You agree that we have the right to remove any post without notice. You agree that we have the right to suspend your account without notice.
Please note some users may not behave properly and may post content that is misleading, untrue or offensive.
It is not possible for us to fully monitor all content all of the time but where we have actually received notice of any content that is potentially misleading, untrue, offensive, unlawful, infringes third party rights or is potentially in breach of these terms and conditions, then we will review such content, decide whether to remove it from this website and act accordingly.
Premium Members are members that have a premium subscription with London South East. You can subscribe here.
London South East does not endorse such members, and posts should not be construed as advice and represent the opinions of the authors, not those of London South East Ltd, or its affiliates.
More interested in trends than daily share price. Let’s see which way it moves over next period.
Did you guys not see the share price is down 4.55%. Are you living in an alternative universe?
Agree Serif, trading pattern suggests persistent seller has departed and the share price should recover well as the potential game-changing farm outs gain traction.
Interesting trading today - piecemeal sell off followed by later strong buying until buys outweighed sells at close. No sign of the concerted large sells of Jan/Feb and some obviously keen to pick up chunks at this level. Tide turning?
I could not agree more. For once; prove up one of our investments before all the wressle money is pi##ed away save for supporting our director’s lifestyles
We seem very good at adding value to others by farming in, so before we go off and farmin elsewhere I would like to see us add tangible value to one of our current projects by getting someone else to bring in their money!
Imv Serenity Tain will need Serica to join in
UJO has recently invested in the US on Royalties and farm-ins. so far the response from shareholders has been cautiously optimistic, pleased that Bramhill is diversifying but not yet reflected in the sp. ujo and eog are both reliant on wressle for the bulk of their revenue, with Egdon seemingly paralysed into inaction, perhaps EOG could follow UJO's lead albeit in a very modest way?
Thanks Tony,
I think us LTS have Europa fatigue and just want something back. I doubt we will see a change in 9 months as that requires a farmout and possibly another farmout of the Tain(?, if we get it)/Serenity licence. We just cant continue with promises and promises. I know a merger will be dilutive but the assets aren't going away and a larger company just makes more sense to move any project forward.
The BOD should be looking at all possibilities to increase shareholder value but with the salaries they are on, are they really going to look at mergers? It has been a perennial problem with the Europa board for a very long time.
Aimshame,
I agree with your comments on a merger - I guess I didn't understand what was meant by "vending the company" - highlights the importance of using plain English to communicate your point or perhaps I'm just slow on the uptake. On the question of whether Management would be receptive - it would be a good question to ask Will Holland at some point - he's not shied away from difficult questions in the past.
It they were to execute this sort of move now - then you would dilute the impact of Inishkea and EQ - however, if we are still sitting in the same boat in say 8-12 months with no tangible progress then it would be harder to Will to justify his salary in a standalone entity
On Serenity - the 33rd Licensing Round is not complete yet and my understanding that a decision on Tain being awarded out of round would only be made after completion of the 33rd Round. I suspect the future of serenity would depend on the success of being awarded Tain. With regards to whether Eog could afford to fund their part of a Tain / Serenity development - imo almost certainly not as I think would be the case with i3e - both parties imo would have to farm down a further % or alternatively sell the licence.
He was appointed after the farm in agreement for Serenity was signed, so he wasn’t on the Board or employed by EOG - which means he wasn’t there to consider the overall financial implications for EOG.
Forgot to add that WH was Finance Director at the time, so I dont think he is completely blameless
Fully agree
Ireland - not Iceland - but maybe that’s our next destination!
Yes that’s what I’ve read - but only here. That’s my point - nothing wrong with a 50/50 deal, but SO should have passed because they couldn’t afford to do several of them and so stack the odds in favour of success. As a result 1 failure wrecks the company’s finances. Don’t blame WH for that, 50/50s are decent calls but will fail half the time whoever is in charge!
I think FDs point is key for me - WH now needs to show hunger for success - which is why I want some project dates. He’s improved the presentation, he’s kept Iceland alive and I think he’s improved the portfolio, but now he has to show he has the drive and determination to get some of these projects through value adding points - which is the hard graft required.
Serif,
I heard that WH brought the Serenity deal to EOG. I am not sure if that is correct but that is what I heard.
One point on Serenity - WH was not the management at the time - - that decision clearly sat with SO. If WH brought a 50/50 option to EOG fair enough - they are the ones who should have said it stretches our finances too much.
Aim... your summation is pretty spot on. In essence too much being spent on salaries and not enough hunger for success.
WH is a nice chap, but does he have the hunger required to drive the company forward and provide long suffering shareholders the added value required?
People don’t give away producing assets at below value - you end up in an ANGS situation. Merger is one thing (may or may not help), but changing overall strategy is another. Why invest in a high risk/high reward company then say you want them to become a low risk/low return company?
For the past ten years they have tried?
Disagree. This is Aim. The market is looking for blue sky farm outs and big prospective resources drills. WH has set out the strategy clearly.
1. Agree, I think they are looking for something transformative and landed on EG. WH and co says it is his connections but since it has 3D already, I am also skeptical that they have found a project ahead of the pact. I am sure the company that farmed it out would have wanted a big player instead of EOG if they could. It is probably a good project but it is high risk and years to a well, which would be transformative. Still let's pray they get someone to farm in this year. HIGH RISK
2. Ireland, yes good geology but you are looking for a farminee who has deep pockets and will take the political risks. The Canadian pension fund who are part owners of Corrib are definitely not going to do it. That leaves very few potential farminees. VERY HIGH RISK
3. My hand is up. I think Wressle is a good project but all it will ever do is pay salaries. The sad thing about EOGs UK onshore is that it has allowed the management to take large salaries without having to perform. Bramhill is clearly looking at moving away from the UK onshore due to the restrictive long process of doing anything. GOING NO WHERE FAST
4. Pauls' comments about vending into larger company are sensible. He is saying a merger creating a larger entity that can spread risks and undertake more projects in the nearer term should be looked at. Without a doubt larger companies better than smaller ones. They have access to better deals and more financial products. SENSIBLE
5. He is saying that with their salaries they would not entertain a merger. This has been Europa's problem for a very, very long time.
6. Can add one more. Serenity. The management including WH, put the company at jeopardy with this disastrous well. I am not sure if it really has life but I suspect it will be difficult and will they be able to fund it? A larger company would have been better able to withstand the blow from the poor result and precipitous fall in share price.
ROLL ON MERGER
Tony. What you have said is very true. I would like the management to build a firm base of steady reliable and sustainable income from investing the Wressle cash into already producing oil and gas assets before they start chasing wild and adventurous, over the rainbow type assets that they cannot afford to develop themselves. The EOG management do not seem to be using the the litmus test of asking the question "if it was my own personal money would I invest it in this risky project" . If I asked that question to myself for EG and Ireland and Serenity I would without doubt say NO an they are far, far to expensive for a small company to fund in anyway at all and the big oilers will hang around (as there are plenty of other more lucrative and less risky) projects until the EOG money fizzles out and they dissappear. They must build a very secure and substantial base income stream first on the back of the Wressle cash and not squander it on wild cat Wells as they are doing now. Pick a known field for sale that is producing oil and gas now and is sustainable for 10 years or so and could be developed further with the cash coming in so it is self funding. Get very rich, very quickly, projects are big gambles with shareholders cash that are shown to be not paying off and are becoming stranded non proven assets, that are worthless.
The truth hurts
The share price flatlining is entirely understandable Imo – Europa’s entire history is one of not delivering on any meaningful projects.
1) EQ whilst an exciting project and potentially transformative – I believe there is some skepticism on how Europa were able to acquire the Project ahead of the major players in the area who presumably have much better connections. Will Holland did explain this point and very eloquently but still? And how are Europa able to spend $4m acquiring the project, have their geologist give the data a quick once over and then immediately farm out a free carry on a $40m drill?
2) The license extension in Ireland was positive as is the apparent softening of political opposition to the Project – but still they’ve been working on the Project for years with minimal apparent progress and how is a $45m drill with a 30% COS low risk?
3) Wressle – hands up who is disappointed with the results of the Jet pump so far – how many months production did we lose due to installation primarily to mismanagement we understand and I’m sure I’m not the only one who was expecting higher production numbers post installation.
4) “The management should be looking at vending the company into a larger, more diverse entity, so we get exposure to more activity” – My assumption is this is what they are trying to do and what they have done with EQ for example – can you be more specific.
5) “but we all know this is not on their radar and why would it be?” Do we all know this and why would it not be???
If you have any good feedback - I will pass it onto Will if you have not already done so.