UK newspaper, The IndependentMonday 26th July 2010Range...

UK newspaper, The Independent

Monday 26th July 2010

Range Resources is Somalia-bound


Somalia is rarely out of the news, and usually for all the wrong reasons. But that has not stopped a number of Aim-listed companies from looking at the country as an investment opportunity.

Of course, there is no functioning national government and it is a society plagued by terrorism, so operating in Somalia has untold difficulties. But that has not discouraged Range Resources from investing significantly there.

The Aim-listed oil and gas-exploration group has a predilection for looking for natural resources in dangerous places. It is, along with its joint-venture partner, Africa Oil, set to announce a new drilling campaign in Puntland, the country's north-eastern region.

It also has assets in Georgia, which was at war with Russia a couple of years ago, so the group is nothing if not adventurous. It claims that Puntland is generally safer than the rest of the country, despite the region's ports being used to launch most of the pirate activity which attracts so much attention.

News of the drilling programme in Puntland could come as early as this week, after earlier this month Range raised A$10m (�5.8m) from an equity placing. Last week, the group also exercised a number of options to raise a further A$1.5m (�900,000) in funds.

A proportion of the cash will also be used to fund a drilling programme in Trinidad, where the group recently acquired an asset. It has also benefited from the revenues it makes from its producing assets in Texas.

Having secured and stabilised its financial support, Range Resources is proposing to target and spud its first well in the fourth quarter. This opens multi-billion barrel prospects which should add an estimated 8.3p to each share, according to the company's London broker, Old Park Lane Capital.

Barney Gray, head of research at Old Park Lane Capital, said: "The recent addition of Trinidad to its portfolio will strengthen Range Resources' production and reserve base and is likely to underpin the current share price further."


http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/sharewatch/small-talk-worldspreads-bets-on-popularity-with-online-gamblers-2035562.html