Ophir Energy Live Discussion

CharlieHarper 17 Oct 2018

2019 the year for LNG FID's so whats the hold up? “The year 2019 could be a major one for final investment decisions (FID) on new liquefied natural gas projects, according to the research and consultancy group Wood Mackenzie. With strong demand growth signals, the supply is bound to respond, the consultancy said.” [link] “Financing by Chinese banks and companies is rising. Chinese companies are expected to be major off takers and investors in many projects, but outside the US from the time being.” ifri.org cornotgandolphe_global_lng_investment_2018.pdf best of luck

CharlieHarper 11 Oct 2018

Murphy Oil Block 5 Mince site now, you have to go elsewhere for the old madness as everything here is moderated to death. Then there’s the technical issues. I was issued a short ban on a forum i frequent some months ago for upsetting some snowflakes, had to google it, but thats where we are and the difference was they complained about what was said and i didn’t. I wonder if that’s the reason in America you could buy assault rifles at the cheese counter in WallMart? Ophir is in a bad place now, hard to see by it being orchestrated(mac, where are you)Cooper hasn’t left the building…he made too many bad decisions for it to be by chance. So we’re starting anew, moving headquarters and looking for new aquaintances, you may find us on eharmony or alternatively dirtbag.com. We appear to be at the bottom but its funy how the crossover to losing Fortuna and the Block 5 spud overlaps then there’s the assets we picked up? It will be interesting to see who gets control of Fortuna. Aminex was in line with the old philosophy buy in the run up to the spud and play its peaks and troughs, don’t hold non producers, they make the biggest headlines whilst exploring which shows in their sp. Fortuna was a new one for me, chickens…eggs…baskets… Apart from Mexico our exploration portfolio is pretty bad or low key with seismics/geology not proving up much. PMO had a stake in the Talos well block 7 GOM BB(1.5bbl) and their exploration portfolio looks good. That 3rd round GOM they were involved/won in lots of blocks and we in none. They’ll do well over there imo. Don’t we have 2/3 years debt to pay for our new assets and we’re starting from scratch again cash wise. In the right hands we look like a goer and with success GOM and our development plans elsewhere. I’m forgetting Fortuna completely its obviously not for the likes of us. POO is strong just now but its not been for long where’s it going, stability would be good for us. We are losing the finds that made Ophir’s sp worth so much E/g and Tanz. and need finds to take their place…as it is we’re worth around 40p per share, Fortuna could affect that but that hope would be factored in so there’s none. Tanzania is in limbo so holds no $ value. We have short term debt to pay(2-3yrs)and no cash of our own. But we do have Mexico block 5 and there’s a very good chance we will find oil worth a few million barrels to 100’s of millions of barrels to us and an easy route to market. Next few months will be very interesting. best of luck

BarleyBaron 09 Oct 2018

Murphy Oil Block 5 Charlie. After seeing that picture I would have to cut off my long sleeves. I really do hate this new site, every time I want to go back to a page I have just viewed it tells me it does not exist and I have to start all over again. Tempted to issue my blog address and discuss on it but then again, maybe later. Been doing some work on how many shares our resident seller(s) have left to sell but that is one cluster f*** of a headache. I do like a challenge and now have time to ramp up trading and investing. I do think we have hit the bottom here, the 38 to 40 range is being hit relentlessly and from viewing the numbers its all bot action. That’s how I see it anyway. There’s lots of hope but you are going to have to be patient. Reckon our move to Asia is a wise one, that’s where the action is. Everything else is in my opinion waiting to be sold off, when we are ready. Tanzania has stalled, increased regulation etc has nailed that door shut for the moment. AEX is in the same boat there and I do apologise for flagging that one up to however was listening. Mexico could kick start us and Fortuna could lift the gloom and doom, but as i’m a number cruncher I cant understand the logic of our sp. Take PMO as an example. Its rapid rise in the last year is on the rise of the POO. Taking a worse case scenario our production was in the region of 11000 barrels /day and expected to rise significantly, first half revenue up 16% and yet the sp has fallen significantly. I know we have the Fortuna + $300 debacle to look at but that should not be pencilled in yet. That may change quickly. There are far more numbers to be thrown in here but I need to do more work and I don’t want to bore the pants off you. I’m just thinking out loud. POO could hit $100 and we would still be In the low 40’s. Please shoot me down in flames. A few boxes need to be ticked but I just don’t know what those boxes contain. Its bleeding frustrating. Come on guys and girls, lets have your views. Baron.

CharlieHarper 09 Oct 2018

Murphy Oil Block 5 Hi B, wonder if additional ii sellers are also cowpin our shares over the side because of our head quarter move now? We need to score in Mexico, a big fat bullseye would do, another gabon and well, there’s hardly enough air in this old girl as there is. We need some hope sown here BB if you’ve the energy left…lets hope block 5 allows us to put our feet up for a while. Trading is where the cash is…this investing lark is for the birds. Why walk when you can hail a cariage… If the white coats going on B don’t forget your stethoscope…i’ll be there to concur also. [link]

BarleyBaron 06 Oct 2018

Murphy Oil Block 5 Charlie. Cannot wait for that drill bit to get turning. And I cant wait for our resident seller to vacate the building. I have a good feeling about Mexico. Just read all your links but far to tired to respond and I have one more field to sow before I retire for the year. Its not been a good one. Mind you, I am back day trading and having positive results. Did you know that the new Apple watch tracks your wrist movements to calculate how far you have walked or run. Apparently teenage boys walk a lot. Well I never knew that. Baron. Must get that long sleeved white coat out of the closet again.

CharlieHarper 03 Oct 2018

Murphy Oil Block 5 As we move forward to the block 5 Gulf of Mexico spud at the end of the year its good to be back with the drillbit in the ground. Still can’t believe we have a stake here(23.3%)giving its proximity to the Talos & partners block 7 Zama success. The expectation on that well mirrors our own block 5 estimates, but, Zama looks like it will prove up 1.5Bboe… “In July 2017, the Talos Energy-led group announced a discovery with the Zama-1 (Zama-1SON), located on Block 7 (Contracto CNH-R01-L01-A7/2015). The well found a contiguous gross oil bearing interval of over 335m, with 170m-200m of net oil pay in Upper Miocene sandstones with no water contact.” No wonder block 5 was the most hotly contested block of the round…we’re due a change of luck. [link] [link] best of luck

karlwbrown58 02 Oct 2018

Half Yearly's looking at 84 dollar oil this adds around $40mill to cashflow to 2019 more than the $200mill they have forecast at 73 dollar oil… looking good from tis level I expect 60p by christmas

PDMSlad 26 Sep 2018

Golar flying Fingers crossed CH, money to be made out of Fortuna

CharlieHarper 26 Sep 2018

Golar flying with a bit of luck we’ll realise something from Fortuna with their help. [link] Zacks Investment Research Golar LNG Rallies 27% In A Year: What's Driving the Stock? Golar LNG (GLNG) benefits from improved shipping activity and consistent record of rewarding shareholders through dividends. However, rise in operating expenses is a concern.

CharlieHarper 17 Sep 2018

It's a great summer Hi BB, too dry in Jockland…thats new. Sorry to hear you’re out of pocket, nearly nothing worse. Ophir, E/G, Fortuna, America, Golman Sachs, Nick Cooper, who is still here at Ophir as a consultant…i would bet if we can’t strike a deal with the Chinese that an American or American controlled company will walk in and take Fortuna for nowt…and with E/G as a member of OPEC a Chinese partner mat not happen anyway. Asian headquarter move is great and we have friends there but Tanzania isn’t going anywhere, anytime soon. VRS is a total success BB well done…silver linings and all that… Best of luck

BarleyBaron 16 Sep 2018

It's a great summer Charlie. A great time to build sandcastles… Oh I wish I had spent my summer building them. Been in the farming game for 40 years give or take and it was the worst one ever. An absolute financial disaster. TOO DRY. As for Ophir. I hate to think what next week will bring. The big sellers are back, drip feeding into the market and there is nothing we can do about it apart from watch it slide further down until a Fortuna decision is made. One of the board said “Ophir has not given up on Fortuna”. I hope it has not but come Jan its all over for that. I said a while back that getting finance from the Chinese meant letting go of a few pounds of flesh. There is so much money to be made from Fortuna and so little time to sort out a deal that I think our license will expire and they will walk in and get it really cheap and get it all. Nobody from what I can see is prepared to lend to us on our terms. We are really on the back foot now and if a deal is done it is not going to be a good one. 300 million writedown is not a good signal to be sending out there. On the Fortuna front I hope it comes good but I am not holding my breath. The move out of London is a good one and the company restructuring looks good for the future. As for Tanzania, what Is going on there. I’m depressed enough by all that’s happened this year and I do hope it all turns out good. Mind you, VRS is chugging along rather nicely, hope you and others threw a few quid at it. I’ll be back posting in earnest later this week. Baron.

chummer 14 Sep 2018

Half Yearly's … we will focus on shareholder value… They’re having a laugh Let them act NOW if they want us to take them seriously

CharlieHarper 13 Sep 2018

Half Yearly's Some web views… Ophir impairs Fortuna, aims for cost cuts UK player runs up large first-half loss as it impairs value of FLNG project and set to switch HQ Eoin O’Cinneide 13 Sep 2018 074 GMT Updated 13 Sep 2018 08:51 GMT Share: E-mail Ophir Energy has impaired the value of its proposed Fortuna floating liquefied natural gas project in Equatorial Guinea to $300 million as the UK player looks to cut costs and avoid frontier exploration. The London-listed player is to axe jobs in London and seek a new headquarters based in Asia as it looks to focus on cash-generative businesses and considers its options “to unlock the potential value” in its liquefied natural gas assets. Fortuna in Golar focus despite OneLNG hit Read more Ophir has impaired the value of its troublesome Fortuna scheme back to just $300 million, booking an impairment on the project of around $310 million in the first half, when total impairments hit $358 million. In the company’s results statement, the $309.89 million charge is described as an “impairment on non-current assets held for sale”. This was instrumental in Ophir booking a net loss in the six months to the end of June of $375.41 million as compared with a loss a year earlier of $84.62 million. The company said it booked the impairment on Fortuna “given the uncertainty around the value (it) can ultimately realise” on the project. “The Fortuna development suffered a setback in the first half of 2018 with the dissolution of OneLNG and the subsequent effective withdrawal of Schlumberger from the Fortuna project,” it said. “We continue to work to realise value for shareholders whilst we are in possession of the licence.” Earlier this summer Ophir chopped its capital expenditure by $30 million on previous guidance after deferring spending on Fortuna. Expected full-year capex was seen at $145 million in mid-July, which includes the acquisition of a clutch of Southeast Asian assets from Australian independent Santos. Schlumberger in OneLNG exit Read more Ophir’s plan to get the Fortuna FLNG project off the ground has taken a number of hits in recent months, not least the decision by oilfield services giant Schlumberger to pull the plug on its OneLNG joint venture with Golar LNG, which is a partner in the deep-water project. The partners have also had trouble securing financing for the scheme. Ophir and OneLNG had been in talks with Chinese yards to secure finance but sources said the government in Beijing, in return for funding, wanted the FLNG vessel converted in a domestic yard. In May, Nick Cooper quit as chief executive of Ophir and was replaced on an interim basis by non-executive director Alan Booth. On Thursday the company said its new strategic review, under Booth’s leadership, has called for the impairment at Fortuna as well as a focus on more cash-generative businesses, in particular brought about by the Santos assets deal. The company is also to minimise its exposure to frontier exploration and focus instead on near-field opportunities. It also said it will downsize the London headquarters within the next 12 months and is looking to set up a new headquarters somewhere in Asia, “to serve as the hub for (its) ongoing business, generating material cost savings”. Ophir chops capex as Fortuna spend deferred Read more Ophir added: “The board believes that these actions will create a focused, efficient business generating a significant amount of free cash flow and will provide a strong platform from which the new chief executive will be able to grow the business, as well as consider other capital allocation options.” The hunt for a new permanent chief executive is ongoing. Ophir made revenues in the first six months of $102.07 million, up from $88.29 million a year earlier. Exploration expenses were $52.98 million, down from $77.13 million a year earlier. Full-year production is seen at 27,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with projected capex kept at $145 million Ophir ‘has not given up on Fortuna’ Interim CEO Alan Booth says company in talks with ‘credible’ companies over troubled FLNG scheme in EG Eoin O’Cinneide 13 Sep 2018 102 GMT Share: E-mail Ophir Energy “has not given up” on the challenging Fortuna floating liquefied natural gas project in Equatorial Guinea as the UK player continues talks with “credible” companies about finally delivering the proposed scheme. The London-listed operator’s interim chief executive Alan Booth acknowledged, however, that it is “up against the clock” with regards to the proposed Block R development as the production sharing contract nears expiration, while admitting that Ophir’s valuation of Fortuna may be dumped to zero, following a huge writedown this week. Ophir impairs Fortuna, aims for cost cuts Read more Ophir on Thursday impaired Fortuna by $310 million down to $300 million as it continues to struggle to get financing for the proposed project, where the licence will expire at the end of the year. “We haven’t given up on the project – I want to reiterate that,” Booth, who took charge of the company after long-time chief executive Nick Cooper quit in May, said in an investor presentation after Ophir unveiled a loss in the first half of $375.41 million, due to impairments totaling $358 million. “We are not leaving. We have not given up on EG,” he said, adding that Ophir is still in discussions “with a number of credible, financially capable companies who have the ability to deliver that project”. He added: “We don’t have a deal, but we understand what it takes to make a deal happen.” “We haven’t given up on EG. We are working very hard. We will do whatever we can to deliver a project there,” he said, although admitting “we are up against the clock”, given the impending licence expiration. Equatorial Guinea ‘may scrap’ Fortuna LNG Read more Director of exploration & Africa Oliver Quinn acknowledged the risk of a third party waiting it out until next year for the licence to expire, but said any company which did that would miss out on the significant strides Ophir has made in the project planning to date, including on LNG offtake contracts. Both Booth and chief financial officer Tony Rouse said a significant number of factors were considered in pegging the current value to Ophir of Fortuna at $300 million, but said this figure will change either positively or negatively at the end of the year, depending on what happens with possible partners or the licence. “We needed to move away from the number we were holding… There was no offer on the table,” Booth said. “We felt that $300 million was a reasonable number to land on given the risks, the timeframes and the people we are talking to.” On the possible future valuation of Fortuna, Booth added: “We hope it would be north of zero – it could be zero, it could be more than that.” Ophir said on Thursday that it had written down the value of Fortuna “ given the uncertainty around the value (it) can ultimately realise" on the project. Ophir may have hit new challenge at Fortuna Read more Ophir’s plan to get the project off the ground have taken a number of hits in recent months, not least the decision by oilfield services giant Schlumberger to pull the plug on its OneLNG joint venture with Golar LNG, which is a partner in the deep-water project. The partners have also had trouble securing financing for the scheme. Ophir and OneLNG had been in talks with Chinese yards to secure finance but sources said the government in Beijing, in return for funding, wanted the FLNG vessel converted in a domestic yard. Asked on Thursday what lessons the company had learned from the exit of OneLNG, Booth said: “Lesson learned: choose your partners carefully. Ophir sees Southeast Asia consolidation Company to focus heavily on region where assets bought from Santos are based as headquarters set to shift Eoin O’Cinneide 13 Sep 2018 10:29 GMT Updated 13 Sep 2018 10:33 GMT Share: E-mail Ophir Energy is open to further asset deals – and possibly a company sale – as the London-listed player plans to move its headquarters from London to Southeast Asia, which will become its core focus region. “We need to achieve sustainable cash flow… We want to see a clear, direct route to value delivered back to our shareholders from any investment we make,” interim chief executive Alan Booth said in an investor presentation on Thursday after the company unveiled a significant first-half loss and its forward plans after a strategic review. Ophir ‘has not given up on Fortuna’ Read more Part of those plans involve downsizing in the London office within the next 12 months – with Booth actually saying the office is to close – as well as veering away from frontier exploration towards more near-field exploration work. Booth said Ophir needs to scale up in Southeast Asia, where the company has taken over a series of assets from Australian independent Santos, in a process that “may involve consolidation”. “We do see Southeast Asia as the heart of our business, and clearly if we do do some consolidation, it will be in that region – we don’t want to shoot off to Argentina, or anything,” Booth added of plans in the region, where he said companies must have an “ability to be taken seriously” in order to progress in the mergers and acquisitions market. “Delivering value and returns to shareholders is what it is all about – not jobs for the sake of jobs,” Booth added. Booth took over the reins as interim chief executive earlier this year after long-time boss Nick Cooper quit in May. The search for a new chief executive continues, with the likelihood being that person will be based in Southeast Asia. “We are a Southeast Asian D&P (development and production) company and our CEO will likely be based in the region,” Booth said. “For any cricket fans out there, I am not the night watchman – I am here to drive the business forward and deliver it into the hands of the new person,” he added. Although Ophir has not landed on where its new headquarters will be, jobs are to be lost in London. Ophir impairs Fortuna, aims for cost cuts Read more “Closing our London office clearly is a tough decision – it is a sad decision,” Booth said, although adding that is it something the company has to do. Booth also said the company remains committed to Equatorial Guinea and has not given up on its proposed Fortuna floating liquefied natural gas project. The company also has assets in Mexico, Myanmar and Tanzania. Asked how the company will treat assets in its portfolio outside of Southeast Asia going forward, Booth said: “We will fulfill our obligations, we will manage our obligations. “Every investment will be carefully scrutinised, and where it doesn’t fit, we will take appropriate action.” best of luck

Shotry 13 Sep 2018

Half Yearly's Looks like that is pretty well what the market expected too. With regards to the 300 million write down of Fortuna, is that the whole thing, or is there more to come on expiry?

CharlieHarper 13 Sep 2018

Half Yearly's Have to be happy moving away from London and its GB-USA manipulation and control regarding hydrocarbons. The US want to corner the LNG world market for its shale gas, apparent in the ongoing Qatar/Iran fiasco, not surprised the Burger’s jumped off the top of the building. Asian move could signal there is plenty of support for Ophir and its gas reserves(it may be too late for Fortuna and cobwebs cover Tanzania)but we’re basically back to square 1 with new exploration needing some big hits…come on Mexico. About what i expected from today… best of luck