There was plenty for the small cap oil and gas investor to mull over this week. The oil and gas producer sector was up 0.31% on the week but down 3.59% compared to one year ago.
Falcon Oil & Gas (LON:FOG) said it was “very confident” of landing a farm-in partner that will ensure all the plays of its Beetaloo Basin property, in Australia, are drilled.
"Falcon is well advanced in its discussions with a number of companies and is very confident of securing an attractive farm-out deal with a large oil and gas company,” it told investors on Tuesday as part of an update on its progress in the first half of the year.
In July the group revealed that Hess elected not to pull the trigger on a five-well programme after being refused a month-long extension to its agreement with London and Dublin-listed explorer.
However, Falcon reported unsolicited interest from other “major” companies looking to partner on what is shaping up to be a world-class conventional and unconventional oil and gas play.
In Hungary, meanwhile, preparations for testing the recently drilled Kutvolgy-1 well are now underway and in South Africa the group is waiting the award of unconventional exploration licence in Karoo Basin.
In other news last week, Kea Petroleum (LON:KEA) revealed it was reviewing its strategic options for the Puka oil discovery in New Zealand.
Having received interest from larger companies, Kea has hired Sydney based Gresham Advisory Partners to assist the review process.
“The directors believe that the scale of the Puka discovery, and the current challenges for small sized oil explorers in accessing capital markets, merit a review to assess strategic alternatives that will enable shareholders to maximise full value from the Puka fields,” Kea said.
Separately, Kea also revealed that it is relinquishing the PEP51155 permit, which hosts the Angus prospect, because the quality of existing seismic data is inadequate.
It also pointed to a diminished appetite for deep gas plays as another reason for the decision.
The company revealed the findings of an ongoing testing programme on the Puka field and said it anticipates the drilling of a third appraisal well in the first quarter of next year.
On Thursday, US-focused Magnolia Petroleum (LON:MAGP) said it was confident of achieving its operational target of having interests in 175 wells by the end of 2013.
The firm's confidence was no surprise given that news of its participation in four more wells in Oklahoma takes the running total to 174.
For a total cost of US$153,433 it is taking minority stakes ranging from 0.697% to 3% in the four wells.
At the moment Magnolia has 121 producing wells, 18 are being drilled and 35 are in the drilling or planning phase.
Meanwhile, Bridge Energy (LON:BRDG) has told investors that a result from the Amol prospect is expected first before the Asha East prospect.
The two prospects are being tested via directional drilling from the same location, and it was initially expected that Asha East would provide the first result.
Work began on the programme in mid-August. Amol has a net recoverable resource to Bridge of 6mln barrels of oil equivalent on an un-risked basis.
Bridge has a 20% interest in both wells, with operator Wintershall holding 40%. The other partners are VNG (20%) and E.ON (20%).
Sound Oil (LON:SOU) this week said it had reached a "significant milestone" with the Nervesa gas project.
Test results showed the well had flowed gas at a stabilised rate of 2.7mln cubic feet per day.
Nervesa is one of the main parts of the strategic plan the group’s management team put in place last year as they took control of the company, following the retirement of former boss Gerry Orbell.
The project will generate good cash flows and add value. Indeed, last week's news alone added an extra 3mln barrels of oil reserves - up to 24bn barrels - to the field, which can now begin to move forward toward development.