Lansdowne puzzled by price rise

Lansdowne Oil and Gas says that it does not know why its share price has jumped today. At one point the share price was more than two-thirds higher on the day but it has fallen back so it was 30% higher to 39p. The share price has doubled in the past week and is nearly 180% higher over the past month. Lansdowne is exploring for oil and gas offshore of southern Ireland in the North Celtic Sea Basin. Last week, Providence Resources signed an off take agreement with Shell covering future potential oil production from its Barryroe and Hook Head oil discoveries. Providence has a 50% interest and is operator of Barryroe, San Leon Energy has 30% and Lansdowne has 20%. All three are AIM-quoted explorers. There are plans to acquire 3D seismic data and then drill an appraisal well later this year. Providence assigned Lansdowne a 10% interest in the Helvick oil field. Lansdowne joined AIM on 21 April 2006. It appointed FinnCap as its new nominated adviser and broker last December.