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Touchstone's short term success is dependant upon a good CR3 result. Expectations are being managed, but the prediction last year (see for example the August 2025 presentation) was it would produce 10 million per day and more recently Touchstone has indicated that if four wells are added to Central Block this year production from that block alone could more than double (with the increase attracting a much higher price than existing production). If that happens, and we'll have a better idea once we get the CR3 results, the disasters of 2025 will be well behind us. There's also plenty of gas still to extract from Cascudura, but it makes sense to leave it to 2027 when much higher prices will apply once the existing contract expires. A bonus this year will be if there's a deep oil farm out and some drilling. That's difficult to predict, but after years of decline there's increasing interest in Trinidad (evidenced amongst other things by Exxon's return last August) perhaps in part because of the deep oil discoveries in Guyana etc and the new government's red-tape cutting should help too. Add in the boost from the compressor in May/June and a VAT refund, and it may well be a very good year. Nothing's guaranteed though.

what the **** does the guardian know about trinidad’s energy sector? a new low.

Trinidad’s energy sector, which has suffered a significant decline over the past decade, still has plenty of life left in it. It’s not only Touchstone that’s been exploring for and finding significant new resources, but the large independents have been buying up assets (Perenco has invested billions over the past couple of years) and the majors have been busy. Exxon returned last August, Shell and BP never left, and Chevron and Total are interested. There’s even an increasing prospect that Trinidad’s refinery will reopen later this year (see https://oilprice.com/Latest-Energy-News/World-News/After-Years-Offline-Trinidad-Looks-to-Indian-Oil-to-Restart-Refining.amp.html). Oil production is rising again and some major gas projects will soon come on line. Energy still makes up about half the economy and, although there are various ways to further improve the fiscal system, it’s not a bad place to do business (Touchstone, like other producers, has no transportation costs and is paid monthly in US dollars). I’m much more comfortable investing in Trinidad than, say, in a company producing oil in the jungles of Peru.

The AIM has its flaws, but plenty of decent companies, including Touchstone, are listed on it. It’s far from untouchable and Warren Buffett, through CalEnergy, had a partnership with Parkmead Group (an AIM company).

For a reminded about why there’s a need for a compressor, see the August 2026 presentation - https://youtube.com/watch?v=HNNcGlKK1BY - at 23:13, 29:16 and 37:48.

Note that Central Block, which has the same formation as Cascudura, has a compressor. Touchstone had hoped they could do without one for the first couple of years at Cascudura, but the declines persuaded them otherwise. The compressor will provide pressure stability that will both boost production and stability. As Paul acknowledged recently, the full effect won’t be known until it’s switched on, but it’s unlikely to be a $6.7 million gimmick.

Cascadura production has been disappointing, but here’s the new $6.7 million compressor that will hopefully significantly increase production: https://www.instagram.com/p/DUJSuXeAYHT/

According to the November 2025 presentation (page 14 of https://www.touchstoneexploration.com/content/uploads/2025/12/Corporate-Presentation-Nov-2025.pdf), the compressor should pay for itself in under 2 years.

However, as indicated by this recent question to and answer from Paul Baay (see Discord), we’ll have to wait to find out what the full effect is:

Q3: What uplift should we expect once compression is live?

PB: Initial uplift should be about 5–6 mmcf/d, but really don’t know until we get it running. The wells have never seen 300 PSI.

Nothing’s certain until the production figures are released, but the prospects of success at CR3 are considerably greater than 50/50 given the existing production from neighbouring wells, the previous test wells, the finding of gas in three locations and the length of the gas. Furthermore, Touchstone clearly has confidence that there will be some production hence the lack of testing and the plans to quickly drill again. None of that makes success certain, but it’s better than 50/50. Given that my tax bill has to be paid in the next few days and VAT the following month, I’m not sure I’ll have any spare funds between now and the end of February, but at this price I’ll likely buy more shares if I do.

From the rossannan/Act achieve:

Regarding Jadestone and posted on February 27th 2023 on ADFVN - “I can certainly live with a short delay - £1 soon, however this RNS is received this morning.”

The share price, which was 85p on February 27th 2023, never reached a £1 and within months had lost 75% of its value. It still hasn’t recovered.

Most of us have had bad investments, but then most of us don’t spend our days sharing our “wisdom” multiple times per day on companies we’ve no interest in whilst pretending to be infallible.

I see all’s quiet on the PTAL thread. Who would ramp PTAL on the threads of various other companies and then saying nothing when the share price collapses? Probably the same guy who’d previously done the same with JSE.

More from Paul in this article - https://trinidadexpress.com/business/local/touchstone-ceo-sees-opportunity-in-venezuela/article_4b4f2e99-59f9-4360-b17c-fb97a21a70c6.html :

“We’ve downsized a little bit in the last year and that is a result of some of the wells not performing as well as we originally thought, so we had to make those adjustments. But as we start to ramp up here with the new acquisition we’ve done, and as we do more drilling, we use more local content—which is also a tricky term in Trinidad, because local content can be ‘local content’ and ‘local local content’ right down to the neighbourhoods we operate in. As we move out of an area and into another, there is a perception that some of the jobs are lost, but generally, they get picked up wherever we’re moving to.”

Baay said one of the major recent developments at the company has been the completed drilling of the Central Block, about which he said he was excited, despite the slow start; he predicted a busy 2026.

The relevant bit from the article sirmark referred to is:

Touchstone Exploration’s Paul Baay agreed that the sector is in a good place, as he explained that the ministry’s acceleration of approvals had brought up the date of potential returns from the company’s recent drilling of onshore wells at Central Block.

“I think the key thing there is, because we’re onshore, some of our projects can get turned around quicker, like we can physically drill a well and get it in production much quicker than some of these big offshore ones. So the new Government is recognising that and helped us with approvals, like certificates for environmental compliance,” Baay said.

“We drilled the first well. We want to drill a second well, really quickly. That process, you know, used to be a nine-month process, and it’s been shrunk down. Now it looks like it’s going to be literally a couple of weeks, maybe a month.”

Baay added that the company could see some returns from that activity by the end of February.

“We drilled the first well in December at the central block, and that’s going to come on at the end of February. So you know that’s like, we’re not talking quarters here. We’re talking months and weeks from when we can drill a well to when we get it on production,” he said.

Baay said, “Those are the kind of reaction times that I think the new Government is recognising and putting in place the necessary things that we see. So from our point of view, that saves us money and saves us time. From the Government’s point of view, that gets molecules on quicker for all of those suppliers that need them.”

The full article is available at https://guardian.co.tt/business/energy-sector-optimistic-about-2026-6.2.2501152.bff3b02b0a

Whatever you do, don’t mention PTAL. Or JSE before that.

…on the Discord group.

JJR Wood Holdings essentially owns 20% of Touchstone (the assumption is that the loan notes will be converted into shares) and Purebond Limited owns another 15.4%.

If they want management changes, they’ll get them. They’re also better placed to decide whether they’re necessary (that they recently put their money into the company suggests not).

To anyone who wants management changes, please give those two companies a call and spare the rest of us the misery of reading your mundane and monotonous posts. I doubt that they’ll agree with you, but you never know.

Thank you John.

It’s further proof that, contrary to much of the repetitive moaning that fills up this chat, Paul Baay and the management team haven’t been sat of their hands doing nothing. Instead, there are six deep wells (which were mentioned during various 2025 presentations) ready for exploration.

It’s definitely Paul’s fault that Trinidad doesn’t promptly pay VAT returns. Why out of all the energy companies and thousands of other businesses can’t he obtain a bespoke deal for Touchstone whereby it receives its refunds immediately?

Https://www.ttt.live/energy-ministers-hail-successful-gas-discovery-at-central-block/

Dr the Honourable Roodal Moonilal, M.P., Minister of Energy and Energy Industries and the Honourable Ernesto Kesar, M.P., Minister in the Ministry of Energy and Energy Industries have welcomed the announcement of a successful development drilling operation by Touchstone Trinidad Central Block, marking a significant milestone for the country’s energy sector.

The Carapal Ridge-3 Development Well represents the first drilling activity in the onshore Central Block in nearly two decades, with the last such operation taking place in 2006.

According to the announcement, the well was drilled to a depth of 8,200 feet and successfully penetrated the target Hererra sands, which were confirmed to be gas bearing. Completion operations and testing of these sands are currently underway, with production from the well expected to be connected to the Central Block gas processing facility during the first quarter of 2026.

In addition to the primary discovery, Carapal Ridge-3 also encountered gas-charged Karamat sands, which are now being evaluated as a standalone prospect for potential future development.

Touchstone acquired the Central Block in May 2025 and has since conducted comprehensive evaluations of the remaining resources in the area. The company’s assessment led to the decision to drill Carapal Ridge-3, and the operator is now evaluating three additional development opportunities for drilling, incorporating lessons learned from this initial well.

The Energy Ministers emphasized that the successful drilling aligns with the Government’s priority to bring much-needed natural gas to market.

Https://www.malcysblog.com/2026/01/oil-price-touchstone-and-finally-6/

This is a wonderful start to 2026 for the Touchstone team and its patient shareholders as CR-3 comes in big time, encountering approximately 1,082 feet of net sand, including approximately 1,000 feet of net Herrera sand. The company report that the well has ‘resulted in thick pay zones across multiple horizons’ but correctly caution that ultimately deliverability will not be known until the well is completed and tied into the facility.

Also the company state that ‘several variables will influence performance’ including new horizontal technology and importantly confirms the seismic model and the areal extent of a ‘thick Herrera section’. The news includes potential for a second gas-charged play in the Karamat formation which could be a stand-alone prospect for future drilling.

With the likelihood of at least three additional wells on the block, the outlook for upcoming drilling is excellent and what is more ticks a number of my boxes in my list of 9 key targets for the company to achieve after my visit to Trinidad last year.

One of those boxes involved marketing gas and tying in the CR-3 well into the Central Block facility this quarter and is incredibly positive, indeed remember that these volumes come under the LNG marketing arrangements and accordingly will achieve a much higher price than traditional gas sales in country.

So, this find is very positive in a number of ways, apart from the pricing above it means that the purchase of the central Block asset has been more than fully vindicated at stage one. The shares are up some 25% today and this is totally justified and should do more. I have been positive on TXP for a long time and my stance is slowly starting to reap rewards, it may have gone into the Bucket List a tad early but could be a candidate for a top pick for 2026…

I think Paul Baay and the management team have done an excellent job with Central Block. Before today they’d already cut costs and boosted production, and now (just over six months after taking control) they’ve drilled the first well in 17 years and obtained what looks like an excellent result. It’s a shame the well has gone over budget, but that seems to have happened for a good reason: they had to manage the gas from an unexpected zone and one that may present future drilling opportunities in addition to the three other wells.

As a reminder, gas from Central Block’s currently sells for $2.87 per MMBtu.

However, there are incentives in place to encourage production increases. Once production exceeds 4.6 Bcf (which it is close to at the moment), Touchstone will

receive an increased price under a different contract which should be around $6.00 per MMBtu.

The consequence is that CR3 should not only increase production, but also generate production that’s vastly more profitable (all Touchstone’s operations are already cash positive). Better still, it’s the first of four wells that Touchstone plan for this year.

We also have the new compressor at Cascudura to look forward to in Q2. It’s coming at a cost of $6.7 million, but will pay for itself in less than 2 years and so should add about $1 million of cash per quarter.

There’s also the prospect of some fracking, new oil wells, enhanced Cascadura production, the bringing into production of Casc4 (drilled but not yet producing) and even some deep well farm downs. Details are available at https://www.touchstoneexploration.com/content/uploads/2025/12/Corporate-Presentation-Nov-2025.pdf

Cavendish have published a new research note headed, “Encouraging results from first Central block well”.

The summary is, “The Carapal Ridge-3 (CR-3) well has successfully encountered 1,082ft of net sand, including 1,000ft of net Herrera sand and has been cased ahead of future production. The result has confirmed the areal extent of a very thick Herrera section and supports TXP’s decision to

concentrate its focus on the Central block whilst it re evaluates and refines its Cascadura reservoir model post the result of the Cas-5 well. Completion operations are underway at CR-3, with first production targeted for 1Q26”.

It’s available at https://www.cavendish.com/research-portal/#/portal/cavendish