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Aftica? Sure was a dream louie!


Look at the last paragraph, mind blowing for Hardman?>>

"Cold weather lures investors as Tullow expands in Africa
By Peter Klinger



CRIES of an impending gas shortage in Britain, amid expectations of a cold winter here and even frostier relations between Kiev and Moscow, are music to the ears of Aidan Heavey, chief executive of Tullow Oil. Britain’s second-biggest independent oil and gas producer is one of the larger players in the UK’s southern North Sea sector and last year produced about 120 million cubic feet of gas. Fears of gas supply constraints drive prices up — bonanza time for gas producers — and not surprisingly investors supported Tullow’s cold-weather fortune by bumping the shares to a 288p record high this week.
The momentum has caught a dose of flu since, infected by profit-takers. Yesterday’s announcement that Tullow had extended its high-risk exploration into the hotter climates off Angola did little to change investor sentiment — the shares eased 2½p to 280¾p.



Angola’s position along Africa’s western coast made it a likely addition to a Tullow portfolio already containing assets in Namibia, Mauritania, Côte d’Ivoire and Equatorial Guinea. The latest buy of a 15 per cent stake in offshore Block 24, operated by Devon Energy, follows a similar deal struck in November over nearby Block 10. Devon has completed two wells on Block 10 since Tullow joined the venture but failed to strike hydrocarbons.

The initial Kabetula well on Block 24, drilled before Tullow formalised its stake, also failed.Investors this week punished companies that failed with the drill bit. BowLeven shares tumbled 45 per cent on the back of a drilling failure.

The fact that Tullow has escaped relatively unscathed from investing in two high-risk blocks is because of its diversified asset base, and therefore reduced reliance on an Angolan discovery. Angola is a long-term play for Tullow and does not figure in this year’s £175 million-plus plan to participate in more than 20 exploration wells.

One of those wells, M’Puta in Uganda, could add 68p to Tullow’s share price, analysts say, if it hits a sizeable oil field. Premature M’Puta excitement will no doubt boost Tullow’s share price, only for failure to be punished accordingly. Such is the joy of gambling on high-risk oil exploration. In this game of uncertainty, however, there remains a sizeable surety: Tullow will not run out of buyers for its North Sea gas. Investors with an appetite for risk should show similar support for Tullow’s shares. Buy."