WTI (Aug) $66.52 -46c, Brent (Sep) $68.71 -50c, Diff -$2.19 -4c.

USNG (Aug) $3.52 +5c, UKNG (Aug) 82.6p -1.7p, TTF (Aug) €34.925 +€0.05.

Oil price

It’s as if the market doesn’t know what’s going on or even when its getting there, yesterday’s API stats are a case in point, initially they showed a build of some 19m barrels which makes for some admin error, after Reuters had investigated it became a build of 0.8m. 

Genel Energy

Genel Energy plc notes the following news release by DNO, the operator of the Tawke PSC:

‘DNO ASA, the Norwegian oil and gas operator, reports that operations at its Tawke license in the Kurdistan region of Iraq have been temporarily suspended following three explosions early this morning, one involving a small storage tank at Tawke and the other involving surface processing equipment at Peshkabir. There have been no injuries. The damage assessment is underway and the Company expects to restart production once the assessment is completed.’

Nothing to add to here, it has been noted that there have been other sporadic incidents in recent days.

Gulf Keystone Petroleum

Gulf Keystone has noted reports over the past two days of explosions at a number of oil fields in the vicinity of the Company’s Shaikan Field.

As a safety precaution, GKP has decided to temporarily shut-in production and has taken measures to protect staff. The Company’s assets have not been impacted.

The Company is closely monitoring the situation and will provide further updates as appropriate.

Same applies as above.

Chariot

I for some reason didn’t get invited to the Chariot webcast the other day, bound to be my fault but I have since watched the tape and it makes interesting viewing. Basically we are now at a junction for the company, the traumas of Anchois are largely behind them and the slow and steady build of the renewable power business can now be recognised. 

So the Chariot board has decided that following a successful raise of some $7.1m, they are in a strong enough position to separate the two key businesses and in the second half of this year will de-merge. The upstream oil and gas business will contain the existing Moroccan business in particular the Anchois offshore and the onshore potential. Despite the third well at Anchois being a disappointment and led to Energean walking away, they are now the operator again and with a genuine feeling that it can become a profitable play.

The other half will be the renewable power business which is operating initially in the power-short market in South Africa, armed with a trading licence three years ago, in the Etana business which buys in electricity, transmits it through the grid and with its 34% has a valuable holding. Indeed with a $20m recent injection from Norfund for its 20% stake has drawn a line through the value of the business. Add to this the potential from the generation projects, already funded and net to them, bringing in funders here will add to the return.

The Etana business has considerable potential, look to the new presentation to show growth opportunities in South Africa and beyond, in sales, trading and generation, a huge potential market where I think Etana is the leading player and remember financed.

From now on there is a great deal to think about in Chariot which will take about 18 months to separate the businesses but will see benefits coming through in both upstream and renewables in Morocco and Africa in their own ways. The recent funding will start off the developments in upstream there but there is exciting potential in Namibia and other areas for backing in west Africa. 

A bit early for Bucket List selection obviously and which side of the business might be quickest off the mark will be interesting, I have always had a great deal of time for the Etana business and as it is funded and has a read through value of the same as the whole group. 

With green hydrogen as yet not the flavour of the month and other parts of the business yet to demonstrate profitability, there is upside potential in the renewable power area across many countries and with no value yet. 

It’s early days and there will be plenty of time to assess if and where money can be made out of the ‘New Chariot’ but knowing Adonis and the team as I do I wouldn’t rule anything out…

Petro Matad

Further to the announcement dated 11 July 2025, Petro Matad has announced that, following the closing of the Retail Offer on the BookBuild Platform on 15 July 2025, 19,497,678 Ordinary Shares will be issued at a price of 0.8 pence per Retail Share in connection with the Retail Offer.

Capitalised terms used in this announcement have the meaning given to them in the Launch Announcement, unless otherwise defined in this announcement.

Application has been made for the Retail Shares to be admitted to trading on AIM (“Admission”). Admission is expected to take place at 8.00 a.m. on 18 July 2025.

Following Admission, the total number of Ordinary Shares in the capital of the Company in issue will be 1,858,800,396 with each Ordinary Share carrying the right to one vote. There are no Ordinary Shares held in treasury and therefore the total number of voting rights in the company is expected to be 1,858,800,396. The above figure may be used by Shareholders in the Company as the denominator for the calculations by which they will determine if they are required to notify their interest in, or a change to their interest in, the share capital of the Company under the FCA’s Disclosure, Guidance and Transparency Rules.

Mike Buck, CEO of Petro Matad, said:  

“We are pleased that many of our retail investors were able to participate in our recent offer. Your investment and support are much appreciated. We look forward to updating the market on our progress.”

A few more quid in the bank for Mike Buck, spend it wisely….

Sintana Energy

Sintana has provided the following update regarding Petroleum Exploration License 79 (“PEL 79”) which governs blocks 2815 and 2915 located in Namibia’s Orange Basin.

The joint venture partners of PEL 79 which include the National Petroleum Corporation of Namibia (Pty) Ltd. (“NAMCOR”) and Giraffe Energy Investments (Pty) Ltd. (“Giraffe”), an entity in which Sintana maintains a 49% ownership interest, have been notified by the Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy for the Republic of Namibia that a 12-month extension to the second renewal exploration period has been granted extending the current license period to July 2026.

Giraffe is the owner of a 33% interest in PEL 79 and Namcor is the operator with a 67% interest. PEL 79 sits inboard of licenses operated by BW Energy, Rhino Resources and Shell.

PEL 79 is attractively situated to deliver significant value through an existing prospect inventory underpinned by over 4,760 km of 2D seismic, 1,137 km2 of 3D seismic and 1 well with gas shows intersecting the Kudu source rock.

Additionally, PEL 79 sits adjacent to an emerging microregional dynamic focused on oil-weighted prospectivity.

  • Rhino Resources, operator of PEL 85 which sits directly outboard to the west of PEL 79, has drilled two wells including the Capricornus-1X discovery well which returned a flow test in excess of 11,000 barrels per day of light oil with limited associated gas from a 38-metre net oil-bearing reservoir. Additional drilling activity is expected to commence in Q3 initially targeting the Volans prospect, with up to two optional wells that could include appraisals.
  • BW Energy has acquired 4,600 square kilometers of new 3D seismic over PEL 3, located directly west of PEL 79, and has moved to initiate an exploration and appraisal campaign including drilling the Kharas well located northwest of Kudu during H2 2025.

“We appreciate the leadership by our joint venture partner NAMCOR to secure the extension for PEL 79. Extending our exposure during a period of significant offset activity positions us to fully realize the significant geologic, commercial, and strategic value of PEL 79.” said Robert Bose, Chairman of Giraffe and Chief Executive Officer of Sintana. “The potential for high impact progress on PEL 79 adds to the prospect for significant developments across our Namibian offshore portfolio. We expect material progress on all our licenses over the coming quarters.” he added.

On behalf of Sintana Energy Inc., “A. Robert Bose”

Chief Executive Officer

Always helpful, particularly when shuffling with successful finds and across different partners, getting an extension in a great portfolio as Sintana has is very useful.