(MENAFN- ProactiveInvestors) WTI $51.69 +$1.21 Brent $57.80 +$1.23 Diff $6.11 +2c NG $2.58 -2c
Oil price
Crude oil rose all but one day last week with Brent up 9.1% 18% on a fortnight giving some traders reason to believe that the worst is behind us. Certainly the chartists I talked about last Monday are getting quite excited for them the Brent resistance level of $56.99 has been busted and onward progress looks imminent I am not quite so confident yet… Blackrock say that inflows into their energy related exchange traded products were a record $3.7bn in January echoing what I have been saying about money managers in general upping their exposure to the sector and indeed what Daniel Och said in his Reuters interview last week.
But if you look at the available US statistics on Friday you are right to be bullish first the non-farm payroll not only cruised past the whisper at 257/- new jobs but decent additions were made to the November and December numbers as well. After that the rig count a new best friend for previously uninformed analysts came in at a drop of 87 rigs (83 of them in oil) to see a fall of 284 since November the 21st. It is without doubt fair to say that it will take time for these falls to feed through to a fall in US production but it will do in time probably in conjunction with other capex reductions around the world at which time it will be time to push the panic button as is so often the case. Finally the last remaining export route for onshore Libyan crude was shut off at the weekend when Hariga port was closed by terrorist attacks thus virtually ceasing any exports from the country.
Cape ()
Cape has announced today a JV with Prezioso Linjebygg to support the upcoming new-build opportunities for the nuclear programme in the UK. Cape have a good record on these sorts of projects and after the award of $65m of contracts last week in the SOCAR JV in Azerbaijan are building the book nicely and I cant see them being hit too hard in this market.
Egdon () / EOG () /Union Jack ()
Egdon has announced the preliminary results of the Wressle-1 well which look pretty good. With free flowing good quality oil of 80 b/d and 47 mcf/d of gas the operator looks forward to seeing what might be found in the two further intervals which may add further hydrocarbons. Either way this well looks like ending up as a producer in the near future after further tests.
Providence () /Lansdowne () - Barryroe farm-out excuse me if I dont hold my breath…
Providence has announced that it has bought for a nominal amount Chrysaor E&P Ireland to consolidate its position in the Spanish Point ‘appraisal’. In addition they and Lansdowne have announced that they have ‘reached agreement’ with a farminee for Barryroe but they cant announce who it is as that company needs to raise the money for the process. The farm-out has been going on for so long I think I will revisit my calculations of some years back only when the moolah comes through if that’s alright with you…
Sundry
After a long spell of gardening leave Helge Lund’s allotment is about to be deserted as Statoil has agreed to release him from his chains a month early and he starts at BG (LON:BG>)this morning. I suspect Andrew Gould will appreciate the gesture as he wasn’t expecting to run the business for so long when he despatched Chris Finlayson last year…
() the company that announced last month that it was de-listing from the Aim market has announced today that it is making a cash distribution of 4.1p a share. Paul Atherley had built a really good team of people in that business and i’m sure that we have not heard the last of them hopefully they are carrying on in a private capacity…
Amerisur () has announced that its LOI has been signed by PetroAmazonas and with final agreements well advanced the pipeline we have all been waiting for through Ecuador should be up and running by the second half of this year. Readers know how positive I am about this company and I do hope that John Wardle finds time to drop into London sometime in the next few months although one appreciates that his job is in Colombia!
And I was shocked rather than surprised to hear that that ‘quality’ bank had parted company with E&P legend Peter Hitchens. Along with Andrew Whittock and Keith Morris (now relaxing as a serial non-exec!) Peter is one of the best analysts in the sector and whilst I was shocked to hear the news I am never surprised at the mind-boggling incompetence of Investment banks at every level and I will watch Panorama tonight with a renewed vigour…
And finally…
Easy to know where to start today and that is in Cardiff where on Friday night with the roof open for all to see England pulled off a smash and grab raid on Wales’ chances of winning the grand slam. Admittedly it didn’t look quite so clever in the first half but as the game went on England got stronger and stronger and the crowd went quieter and quieter… Ireland duly obliged in Rome and Scotland played a very sound game but couldnt win the points in Paris but were never out of touch.
In the footy it was all about Harry Kane who has had a fantastic season and he capped it with not only a brace of goals but a pair that won the North London derby into the bargain. The other derby on Merseyside was apparently a fairly boring draw elsewhere Chelski won at Villa and the Noisy Neighbours only just rescued a point at home to the Hull City Tigers. At Upton Park yesterday afternoon Big Sam Allardyce put his tongue firmly in his cheek and called the oppo Long ball United when they flung on Fellaini but it worked as the reds got a 90+2 equaliser…
With only 5 days to go until the Cricket World Cup England had a warm-up game against the West Indies this morning. With Gayle and Bravo going in the first over the desire left town and England chased down a low score with 9 wickets in hand. Australia on Valentines Day could still be a massacre…
And Tony ‘A.P.’ McCoy announced his retirement on Saturday and proceeded to go and win the Irish Gold Cup yesterday for the first time. Having won the jockeys title for 19 consecutive years he is at long last giving someone else a look in.
I wont be the only one claiming rights over the wonderful Eddie Redmayne but over at Cantor Fitzgerald they surely will be. My old sparring partner Richard is Eddie’s dad and many of us in the community will know that he will be incredibly proud and may just have a crafty one to celebrate…
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