Chariot Oil & Gas confirmed that it is firmly on track to commence its drilling campaign during the fourth quarter.
The Namibia-focused explorer's net exploration costs came in at $4m (£2.4m) for the year, with most of this attributable to residual tasks from 3D seismic surveys that consumed $17.6m in exploration funds during the previous year. With drilling on the horizon, Chariot bolstered its technical team during the year, adding another $2m to administrative expenses.
While it's likely that Chariot will announce a second farm-out partnership in the near future, the company is now in a strong cash position to push ahead with development because of April's placing, which added $140m to the balance sheet. The company is currently securing a rig to drill the first well within the Tapir North prospect, but much attention over the next 12 months will focus on the Nimrod prospect, which Chariot's chief executive Paul Welch views as a potential "game-changer" for the company. With an unrisked resource volume of 4.6bn barrels of oil in prospect, it's not difficult to understand why.
Ambrian has set a core net asset value (NAV) estimate of 498p a share, with another 50p risked potential from near-term drilling.
| CHARIOT OIL & GAS (CHAR) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 231p | MARKET VALUE: | £418m | |
| TOUCH: | 229-232p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 324p | LOW: 96p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 57¢* | NET CASH: | $9.22m | |
| Year to 28 Feb | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008 | nil | -2.86 | -5.00 | nil |
| 2009 | nil | -28.6 | -22.0 | nil |
| 2010 | nil | -3.13 | -2.00 | nil |
| 2011 | nil | -7.29 | -5.00 | nil |
| % change | - | - | - | - |
*Includes intangible assets of $92.7m or 51¢ a share £1 = $1.65 | ||||
