There were just 3 of us at today's roadshow.No doubt the content...

There were just 3 of us at today's roadshow.No doubt the content was similar to what was presented at Sydney so hope I don't repeat what has already been covered on HC.
MD Russell Langusch reported that the drilling rig should be anchoring at the Marquis site today so if the good weather holds, expect drilling to finish about the end of the month.
He is hoping that a farm-in deal can soon be arranged so that the company has something on the go between Marquis and Jaguar. Many private lease holders are struggling to get finance to complete their North Sea obligations before the 2 year permits expire so there is a good chance that someone will be looking for a farm-in partner such as EXR.
They have enough cash to cover the cost of 5 or 6 wells over the next 18 months so no plans to issue any more shares during that time - unless one of the wells strikes oil and they need cash for the next stage of development.They won't necessarily develop any find themselves however - it might be better to sell to an interested cashed-up major (and there are a few of them about apparently!)
EXR therefore starts its first well with just 63 million shares on issue ( and 10 million of these are escrowed for another 12 months). If they find oil -and they calculate the odds in the North Sea as being about 1 in 5- then it should be possible to develop the find for under $20 per barrel, hence the assumption that each successful well is worth about $200 million market cap. to EXR.
The MD is obviously prejudiced but he claims their existing prospective leases,expertise and experience should value the company at a hell of a lot more than what it is today.
British institutions have supported them well e.g. new major shareholder Fidelity is promising to stick with them for at least 2 years. But where are the Australian supporters? Only Argonaut,which provided initial support ,appears on the list of big shareholders. Although the institutions were not at today's briefing, the MD hopes to bring others on board during his current Australian tour and he'll be back in September for another crack at them.
I came away convinced that I should stick with EXR for the next 12 months at least. The North Sea prospects are big, by Australian standards, and the small no. of shares should ensure a nice bounce in sp should they enjoy any drilling successes.And they are hoping for additional leases to be allocated by September! And there is the possibility that their Norwegian links could lead to other joint ventures in the northern section of the North Sea!
It is an exciting story so let's hope that Perth shareholders accept the opportunity next week to attend the EXR briefing.