Roundtable Discussion; The Future of Mineral Sands. Watch the video here.
LBE's description of Statfjord East on its webpage also confirms that it uses the Statfjord C platform:
"Prospect: Statfjord East
Licence: PL 089 CS
Partners: Longboat JAPEX (4.8%), Equinor (operator), Petoro, Vår, Wintershall Dea
Statfjord Øst is located seven kilometres to the northeast of the Statfjord field in a maximum water depth of 190 metres and produces oil and gas from two subsea production templates and one water injection template tied-back to the Statfjord C platform. The Norwegian Ministry of Petroleum and Energy approved a redevelopment plan in 2021 to drill five new production wells into potentially undrained areas of the field while also adding gas-lift to increase production levels.
Production is expected to increase significantly early in 2024 when the new wells will be brought on stream. Gas-lift installation has been completed."
Source: https://longboatenergy.com/operations-norway/
Yes, the Statfjord A platform is for the main field. Statfjord East or Ost in which LBE has its interest uses the Statfjord C platform. Below is an excerpt from the regulatory factpages for Statfjord East which confirm this fact:
https://factpages.sodir.no/en/field/pageview/all/43672
"Statfjord Øst is a field in the Tampen area in the North Sea, seven kilometres northeast of the Statfjord field. The water depth is 150-190 metres. Statfjord Øst was discovered in 1976, and the plan for development and operation (PDO) was approved in 1990. The field has been developed with two subsea production templates and one water injection template, tied-back to the Statfjord C platform. In addition, two production wells have been drilled from Statfjord C. The production started in 1994."
In annual reports past they had previously referred to "farming out" or "other funding arrangements" for the purposes of near term exploration. They hadn't specifically referred to the type of asset finance arrangements that DH has referred to for the purposes of development.
"Longboat was established by Hammer and other members of the former management team of Faroe Petroleum. Prior to his 13 years at Faroe, Hammer worked for Shell and Paladin Resources.
Production growth
Longboat Japex aims to reach its production targets with mergers and acquisitions, field developments, or a combination and plans to drill between one and three exploration or appraisal wells per year.
Previously, Longboat had found it difficult to acquire production in Norway because of the competitive nature of auctions, and also being up against private equity, Hammer says.
Longboat Japex will now have the ability to buy interests in one or more of the numerous projects in Norway that are being developed, and is already looking at one small production acquisition.
“We think those represent the best business development opportunities because you might find that some companies feel they are overexposed in some projects.”
Field developments are also a possibility with the financial support of Japex.
Kveikje, for example, has been incorporated in a large Equinor-led project called Ringvei Vest, which will develop multiple discoveries with combined resources of about 250 million boe and connect them to the Troll field.
Oswig, a high-pressure, high-temperature discovery in the same area as the Equinor-operated Tune and Oseberg fields, has great potential but requires an appraisal well.
Exploration plans
Longboat Japex also has two very attractive exploration targets to drill — Velocette and Lotus — as well as the Oswig appraisal.
The OMV-operated Velocette prospect is one of Norway’s largest exploration wells this year, targeting about 177 million boe on a gross basis, and due to be drilled in the second half of 2023.
“That’s a really key well,” Hammer says.
“It’s one that can change our world a little bit. It’s high impact, has a 30% chance of success, it’s a gas prospect. And it’s sitting just to the east of the Aasta Hansteen field so if we make a discovery we can tie it in.”
The Japex arrangement includes up to $30 million of finance if Velocette is a success.
Lotus is a lower-risk exploration well in the Kveikje area earmarked for drilling next year.
Fixture in Norway
Longboat has become a fixture among Norway’s juniors, a peer group that includes Lotos, Pandion, M Vest, Wellesley, Concedo, Source Energy and Petrolio Noco.
Hammer says there used to be a lot more junior companies.
“It is changing, because if you go back 10 years, the number of E&P companies active in Norway was, I think, above 50. Now it’s more like in the 20s.”
Mergers have created “some very large independent companies — strong, big companies”, he says.
“And there are the smaller ones. But what you don’t have is the midsize independents. So what I’m excited about is that with Japex we can grow into that space. I think Norway needs a company like that.”
"Longboat chief Helge Hammer has high hopes for new Japan venture
Joint venture gives Norwegian independent an opportunity to scale up to what chief executive says is the right fit for the home market
Helge Hammer has lately taken a keen interest in Japan.
The chief executive of Norwegian offshore exploration company Longboat Energy has become a fan since Longboat agreed a transformative deal with oil and gas major Japan Production Exploration (Japex) that will see the two companies join forces in Norway.
The deal, announced on 2 May, will see Japex acquire 49.9% of Longboat’s Norwegian subsidiary, Longboat Norge, which will be renamed Longboat Japex Norge.
In return, Japex will invest about $150 million over the next three years on exploration, development and the acquisition of new interests in the country.
Stavanger-headquartered Longboat, founded in 2019, has made a big impression with five discoveries from the eight exploration wells it has drilled, including Kveikje and Oswig.
The company had been looking to sell down some discoveries to boost its balance sheet, and had received some offers, but then Japex came along and identified Longboat as an access point to Norway’s prodigious upstream oil and gas sector.
Hammer says: “When we started this process, we didn’t expect this to happen. It was not planned.”
But with the Japex agreement, “we now have the capital that allows us to make acquisitions, develop discoveries, to really realise the value of our portfolio”, he says.
Mid-tier scale
The deal positions the joint venture to pursue a target of growing into a mid-tier company in Norway producing between 10,000 and 20,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day within the next three to five years.
“We’re delighted with this deal because what has happened in the world in recent years has made it more difficult to be a smaller company,” Hammer says.
“This will give us extra financial strength, which I think is why the market took the news so well.”
Longboat’s share price doubled on the day of the announcement, and Hammer says one of the deal's advantages is that there is no dilution for Longboat shareholders.
He adds that it has been great getting to know the people from Japex.
“They are very sympathetic and trustworthy,” he says.
“They can be tough negotiators but always consistent, and it has been a delight to deal with them.”
He says he looks forward to learning a bit of the language “and I am very much looking forward to experiencing more of the exciting Japanese culture”.
Japex seems rapt too, with its chief executive Masahiro Fujita saying his company sees a very strong alignment with Longboat “in the business expansion strategy in Norway” and that “the combination of the Longboat team’s significant experience and expertise in Norway and Japex’s technical and financial competence will be very beneficial in pursuing such a strategy”.
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https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-01-27/abandoned-s-africa-mine-caused-catastrophe-rights-group-says Let's hope IDC come to their senses
Maybe IDC believe that the board should be giving higher priority to creditors interests over that of DCP shareholders and IDC don't agree with the board's strategy of having staged the fundraising thus squeezing IDC for concessions.
Holdon, After announcing a diamond inventory of 7003 diamonds on 13th Sept DCP announced a diamond sale of 7,121 carats on 20th Sept of which 4863 cts were from kimberlite mining and the rest from tailings production. On 12th Oct DCP reported that "diamond recoveries averaged 25 cpht for the month against a budget of 29 cpht " So it appears today's announced grade is consistent with the budget and no carats are unaccounted. The ones mentioned on 13th Sept were sold and the sale reported.
On 20th Oct they announced a diamond inventory of 2,800 carats. So it seems they have processed 2,200 carats over approx 20 days if they are hitting 5000 carats today.
This stock has rebounded over last two days with it having returned to operational profitability in December and may continue to do so (provided it doesn't run out of cash). Anyone have any views on it?
Hardide today announced that it had secured orders from Expro as its first new customer for its recently opened coatings facility in Houston, Texas. It also said that it has parts in test from over 30 of the region's major suppliers to the oil and gas industry and intends to announce those new contracts when they are won (presumably only if they're material). I am going to load up with some more HDD shares while the price is still low.
From Proventecs announcements it appears that the placing price was between 7 to 8 pence. 31,499,725 shares were sold. They were booked in the 27 Nov Proventec interims at £1,589,000 (ie, approx 5p each). Todays announcement says that Proventec received a net profit of about £700,000. Therefore, placing price (before adding costs) was approx 7.2p. Cost of placing was I guess probably about 10% because of its small size and the rapaciousness of the financial advisers which probably means the placing was between 7.7 and 8 pence. If so, there could be pressure on the price not to rise much above the present level if those who bought into the private placing wish to realise a quick profit.
If you go back and look at Proventec interim results announcement of 27 Nov 2006 the Proventec Chairman's statement says: the "Board has resolved after careful consideration to postpone penetrating some [...] markets through alternative routes, such as licensing, as it believes an aggressive acquisitions and partnership policy offers a more distinct and total concept that will create market leadership and a clear competitive edge with superior returns which will enhance shareholder value. The inevitable consequence of this decision has been a delay in sales in some areas, but I expect to see a rapid upturn in sales once we have secured footholds in target markets through our acquisition strategy." This would suggest that Proventec's sale of its HDD stake is related to its own need to raise cash and not the fundamentals of the HDD business. Unfortunately, I used up my spare cash by buying some more shares in HDD last Friday. However, if you are considering buying a stake in HDD, now is probably a good time for a speculative punt. To the extent that the market had been notified of Proventec's prospective sale that would have had the potential to act as a drag on the price. Now that that overhang is gone I guess there is possibly greater potential for the shares to bounce higher on positive news (hopefully in HDD's March interims).
Not altogether surprised by Proventec selling down its whole stake. Proventec said it would do so on 27 November 2006. They had agreed not to sell down before Dec 2006. Then they said they would sell “when market conditions permit and subject to support of [Hardide’s] brokers and advisors”. Presumably that support has been forthcoming. The sell-down may be more about Proventec's need to raise cash for its core projects rather than lack of belief in HDD's medium and long-term prospects. It may also suggest that Proventec believed there was risk of further near-term share price weakness and wanted to exit while it could still do so at a profit. The biggest negative of the sell-down I think is probably the corporate governance implication of the chairman (proventec's nominee) resigning. Who will take his place?
Hardide's website posted the launch of its product to the autosport industry at Autosport International (11-12 January 2007). It says the product is "particularly suitable for auto applications such as crankshaft journals and cylinder linings". I suppose the expansion of the industries it is targeting (ie, oil and gas and aerospace) with its product is a good thing. The announcement also interestingly says that the product is being used in the chemical, power and food manufacturing industries. There's nothing else of particular note in the announcement. I've loaded up some more at the current price.
I see that there has been considerable buying activity of this share today. Is this in anticipation of an announcement? I had a go at using their online poker software (pokerwize) and am very impressed by it. I even managed to win a tournament with the help of their statwize software. I'm not currently invested in this stock but am mulling over investing my poker winnings in it.