Interactive Investor

The Oil Man: Genel Energy, President Energy, Zenith Energy

17th October 2017 13:20

Malcolm Graham-Wood from interactive investor

WTI $51.87 +42c, Brent $57.82 +65c, Diff -$5.95 +23c, NG $2.95 -5c

No blog yesterday as I was out and about, but company news is fairly thin on the ground at the moment.

The oil price remains firm and Brent is above $58 and WTI above $52 Tuesday. Last week they gained $1.55 and $2.16 respectively.

The main positives are the substantial export cuts for November announced by Aramco over the weekend in which they expect to reduce by 560,000 barrels per day. In my book that's called making a statement.

The usual geopolitical events such as in Kirkuk and the Trump moves on Iranian sanctions still exist and with elections called for February in Nigeria I can't see that settling down between now and then.

Genel Energy

A couple of points to make about Genel from today and yesterday. It has announced that the first RSA payment has been made, amounting to $6 million (£4.5 million) and under the new arrangements is their exact share of the 4.5% of the Tawke revenues in August.

Understandably the aforementioned troubles around Kirkuk have caused some consternation amongst investors, and rightly so. Having said that, it should not be overestimated.

Yesterday it was announced that COO Paul Schofield was stepping down with immediate effect and will be replaced in November by Bill Higgs, formerly COO of Ophir Energy and boss of Mediterranean Oil and Gas.

It's a significant move by Genel and, in my view, a most positive one. It didn't take much savvy to realise that Bill would not be out for long and this looks very interesting.

As previously reported the guard is being changed at the top of Genel and very much for the better.

President Energy

Whilst on the subject of revenues, President Energy has announced that it has "banked proceeds" from its first delivery of oil from the Puesto Flores field, only recently acquired from Chevron.

The $1.5 million shows that the assets are delivering to PPC "from the get go" and, as in his interview with me last week shows, chairman Peter Levine is "focused on profits and positive cash flow". The shares are now above 10p and should go a lot higher, especially after his bullish comments last week.

Zenith Energy

Zenith has announced a production increase on the C-21 well in Azerbaijan from 34 barrels per day to 50 barrels per day which could rise if an ESP is installed. I have been looking at ZEN a bit lately and think it warrants further investigation.

And finally…

This afternoon sees the draw for the World Cup playoffs with Northern Ireland and the RoI in the pot. Seeded teams they might meet include Switzerland, Italy, Croatia or Denmark.

Tonight we are back to the Champions League, the HubCap Stealers go to NK Maribor, the Noisy Neighbours host Napoli and Spurs are at Real Madrid, which gives young Harry the chance to size up the Bernabéu.

And the "much loved" Warren Gatland has said that he won't manage the British and Irish Lions tour of South Africa in 2021; or, as he puts, it "won't submit myself" to it. What a shame.

From Sunday…

The heavy rain in Japan produced another thrilling race between the two contenders for the World Championship.

Marc Marquez led for the second half of the race having overtaken pole man Danilo Petrucci but couldn't shake off a determined Andrea Dovizioso who can now smell the World Championship.

Going into the last lap it looked as though Marquez had the win but a mistake allowed Dovi through, meaning Marquez only has an 11 point lead going into next week's Australian GP.

Both Rossi and Crutchlow slid off with Rossi blaming his rear Michelin. Best Brit was Sam Lowes' 13th.

This article is for information and discussion purposes only and does not form a recommendation to invest or otherwise. The value of an investment may fall. The investments referred to in this article may not be suitable for all investors, and if in doubt, an investor should seek advice from a qualified investment adviser.