Member Info for lejjb

THESE ARE MY OWN PERSONAL AMATEUR'S NOTES ONLY. ACCURACY NOT GUARANTEED.
NOT OFFICIAL APPROVED COMMUNICATION. NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE.

PRESENTING JOHN B:

Has worked in Central Europe for 15 years. His kids were brought up there.
Extensive knowledge of its geology, but also of its bureaucracy.
Particular experience of Hungary which is in the same basin as our field.

He does the geological analysis / prep that consultants used to do for Ascent before, so saves money in that respect.

He will make sure not to be excessively bullish and be instead more conservative in his estimates etc.

He (and the rest of the BoD) is striving to find as many ways of short and long-term financing for the current and planned activities (avoiding dilution).

PETISOVCI

John B: "to have an AIM company with that much oil and gas in the ground is unique".
He is reinterpreting all existing seismic data to have a proper fresh look.

Key objective: create multiple revenue streams from our field, at the lowest cost possible.

At present, we have been working on / drawing gas from the middle layer. There is also the deep layer with even more gas & oil. And finally the "shallows" which still have untapped recoverable resources and access to them does not require additional permits.

Existing wells (already used, or with not completed due to past drilling mistakes) could be perforated further or fixed to access some of those resources at a low cost.

The compression equipment would not just stabilise pressure, but also increase recovery from 0.1 to 0.7 bcf . However, compression equipment is not readily available and will require to be designed / assembled for our purposes. Ballpark cost Euro (not GBP!!) 650k, but vendor finance may be available.

THESE ARE MY OWN PERSONAL AMATEUR'S NOTES ONLY. ACCURACY NOT GUARANTEED.
NOT OFFICIAL APPROVED COMMUNICATION. NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE.

PERMITTING UPDATE

Before, Ascent was using the lawyers of the local partner and the joint venture, so there was not the same level of continuous legal support as now.

Ascent now has its own dedicated lawyers, both to deal with the permitting process and to keep strengthening the litigation case if Ascent decides to sue after all.

Starting legal action would suspend the permitting process, so it is very much the very last resort.

Ascent can be easily regarded as the big foreign oil company trying to muscle in on Slovenia's resources, so public opinion has to be nurtured so Ascent is not anymore an easy target for politicians.

Ascent is thus actively working with a large PR agency in Slovenia

THESE ARE MY OWN PERSONAL AMATEUR'S NOTES ONLY. ACCURACY NOT GUARANTEED.
NOT OFFICIAL APPROVED COMMUNICATION. NOT INVESTMENT ADVICE.

REGIONAL OPPORTUNITIES

Extensive experience of John B in the region, both the geology and possible future partners in the overall central European region.

Existing and good INA relationship gives also a massive advantage for future Central / Southern Europe expansion – incl. Croatia.

Q&A
- Petrol's (JV partner) level of support? A fair bit, but Petišovci is only one of its many activities so it cannot dedicate as much time and resources as we'd like (hence Ascent now having its own lawyers…).
- WH Ireland note on the company in the future? John B has been meeting them to point out the value of the resource.
- No minister's approval formally needed for the grant of the permits.
- More placings soon? Unlikely as one was done recently, and there is a fair bit of money in the coffers.
- SP comments? Rewarding long-term holders and bolstering the SP are now even more important for the BoD.
- The new non-exec plans to buy shares when the closed period ends. Broader claims that the BoD still does not appear sufficiently committed financially otherwise are "heard" and "taken on board".

Gerry65 - Those figures were updated by CH since then. So as far as I can see, you are relying on partly out of date data.

And yes, CH did give an approx. figure of restricted cash at the meeting (that I cannot recall from the top of my head).

Gerry65 - the cash info has been reported in RNSs and interviews over the past few months. You are being lazy.

Just ignore duster, he has been spouting cr@p based on distorted (or made up) info for ages.

Two points standing out the most though:

John B is completely changing the game. Even in relation to making more money out of the current resource / creating multiple and simultaneous sources of income from it, and in relation to saving money in operations.
And in dealing with government permitting / licensing authorities.

(Finally!) much more on-the-ball legally for all administrative dealings in Slovenia due to dedicated lawyers.

Notes later today...

Yes, CH said the same thing as he said in a recorded interview before: all the earlier interested party saw all the data etc. so the don't really need to go through all the process again and if they are still interested, they can re-appear and make their offer(s) very quickly.

[My extrapolation of the above:] once the permits are granted, the earlier suitors may re-appear very quickly after...

We got much more than a vibe. Report from me to follow later.

WH Ireland was actually discussed - John B had been talking to them recently (on the very same day IIRC) to tell them about the true value of the resource.

Scott1092 - not really, he had a bit of an embarrassed look (but certainly did not look “shell shocked” like one guy has been claiming on Twitter), and him and the BoD sort of waited for that to pass as Colin was rolling with the punches. Especially easier not to respond as some people in the room were then getting riled up and added about the BoD not having enough skin in the game generally (ie very few shares owned by them). So by changing the topic, the audience helped CH dodge that topic.

This question was answered a little bit earlier on this BB.

Bradis - about whether there is a need for the minister’s approval? Yes.

Paddy - just as a passing mention.

It went better than expected. Not amazing, but certainly better than I thought it could go. My amateur’s / not investment advice etc etc topline: John B is certainly excellent. Inexpensive and permit-free opportunities to produce gas and possibly oil from the current asset in the short-medium term (from the shallows). Very credible reasons to bid in Croatia. Credible reasons why the permits should be awarded sooner than later this time (and an environment minister’s approval is NOT formally needed for their award). Company unlikely to need to raise cash in the immediate future. Complaints about the BoD not having much skin in the game “heard”. The newest non-exec is planning to buy as soon as the “open period” begins. I’ll see if I can write a fuller report tonight or tomorrow morning.

...rant from Duster with a mix of unsubstantiated claims, or claims based on false / heavily distorted grounds.

brainspark - I'll report what I can, sure.

I won't ask CH how positive he feels because he was very positive back in August, and look at where we are now... my questions regarding the award of the permits will be more specific (e.g. whether ministerial approval is definitely necessary).

-rAsMus-

Probably. At least a massive upside from the current levels IMO. Whether it will go a price that truly reflects the resource is another question...

The high likelihood that Ascent was discussed during the ministerial visit in Slovenia and the clear evidence of lie from the minister in relation to Ascent (his claim of having been granted extra police protection that turned out to be made up), among several other things, suggests a resolution of the permits sooner rather than later.

But we cannot know for sure what has been truly discussed (and decided) behind closed doors...

Still, I increased my holdings by about 45% today.

I'll ask CH to confirm this point explicitly tonight anyway. And if he cannot, to find out and confirm by RNS later this week.

Agreed, it was not really JL's remit to intervene personally in the award of permits. IIRC he was really abusing his power legally.

That's probably he did not even dare refuse Ascent's permit, and instead had to claim it was only procedural issues that drove his decision to prevent the immediate award of the permits.