Sudden splurge of interest happening. Was good volume in the US...

Sudden splurge of interest happening. Was good volume in the US last night 212k, and back to 8 cents.

Not sure if this has been posted.

Regards,

TCG.


http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFJOE71M07Q20110223

BG, Premier, Cove in talks for new Kenya licences
Wed Feb 23, 2011 9:06am GMT

(Reuters) - A consortium of explorers, including BG Group Plc, Premier Oil and Cove Energy, are in talks with the Kenyan Government over two offshore licences, as interest in East Africa's hydrocarbon potential gains momentum.

Australia's Pancontinental Oil & Gas is also part of the consortium that is in talks over production licences L10A and L10B that were offered by the Kenyan Government.

Production sharing contracts over the two licences will be negotiated over the coming weeks, Pancontinental said in a statement.

"Assuming the award is successful, this is clearly positive news for Premier, as it looks to broaden its exploration portfolio beyond 2012," analyst Richard Rose of Oriel Securities said in a statement.

If the consortium gets the contract, BG will hold a 40 percent stake in the first licence, while Premier, Cove and Pancontinental will have a 20 percent, 25 percent and 15 percent stake, respectively.

In the second licence, BG will hold a 45 percent interest and Premier will have a 25 percent stake. Cove and Pancontinental will each hold 15 percent.

Kenya has no proven oil reserves, but interest in the hydrocarbon potential of the east African region has shot up in recent years after offshore gas discoveries in Tanzania and Mozambique and billions of barrels of oil in Uganda.

BG recently said it was working on a third well off the coast of Tanzania, where it made two gas discoveries in 2010, and analysts have speculated the finds could open up a new hydrocarbon basin in East Africa and warrant the building of an LNG hub.

BG shares were marginally down at 1437 pence, while shares of Premier were down 0.5 percent at 1955 pence at 0849 GMT on Wednesday on the London Stock Exchange. Cove's shares were slightly up at 92.75 pence. Pancontinental closed up 8.2 percent in Australia.

ends