Exploration junior Chariot Oil & Gas is preparing to drill its first well off the coast of Namibia. That well, Tapir South in the company's northern licence area, is expected to start drilling in early April following the signing of a one-well rig contract with Maersk.
In Chariot's southern licences, into which Petrobras (30 per cent) and BP (45 per cent) have been introduced as 'farm-in' investors, operating partner Petrobras is looking to secure a rig to drill the Nimrod prospect, which consultants estimate could hold up to a huge 4.9m barrels of hydrocarbons.
Given that Chariot's prospects generally lie under deep water and are therefore expensive to drill, the company is looking to introduce other farm-in partners to reduce its exposure to any single well. Discussions remain ongoing with multiple parties across all of the company's licences.
To further bolster its financial position, Chariot is raising $48.7m (£30.7m) through a placing at 170p a share, which follows the placing in April last year that raised $140m. Added to the current cash pile, these funds and farm-in agreements will allow extensive exploration of the large licence area over which the company has so far identified 15 exploration prospects.
| CHARIOT OIL & GAS (CHAR) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 187p | MARKET VALUE: | £340m | |
| TOUCH: | 187-188p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 285p | LOW: 88p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | nil | PE RATIO: | na | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 130¢** | NET CASH: | $129m | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2008* | nil | -2.9 | -5 | nil |
| 2009* | nil | -28.6 | -22 | nil |
| 2010* | nil | -3.1 | -2 | nil |
| 2011* | nil | -7.3 | -5 | nil |
| 2011† | nil | -9.2 | -5 | nil |
| % change | – | – | – | – |
*Year to 28 Feb †10-month period **Includes intangible assets of $89m, or 49¢ a share £1=$1.586 | ||||
