The key development for Victoria Oil & Gas in the latest six-month period was the confirmation by respected oil industry consultancy DeGolyer & MacNaughton that the company's Medvezhye gas project in Siberia contains 1.1bn barrels of prospective recoverable oil equivalent. Most of that is gas, but with the signing of a development protocol with industry giant Gazprom, Victoria has also made an important step towards securing future sales.
Testing at Medvezhye continues and the company now hopes to book formal Russian category C1 reserves by the end of the year. Of course, there's still some way to go before Medvezhye goes into production but, in the meantime, investors can look forward to cash flow from imminent first oil production at the Kermerkol asset in Kazakhstan.
And although exploration on the Tamdykol Kazakh property disappointed, and has been suspended until later in the year, Victoria continues to evaluate other opportunities in the region. Following the half-year-end, the company raised £13.1m (before expenses) through a placing of 16.8m shares at 78p at the end of December.
| Ord price: 255p | Market value: £280m |
|---|---|
| Touch: 248-260p | 12-month High: 272p Low: 31p |
| Dividend yield: nil | PE ratio: na |
| Net asset value: 31¢* | Net cash: $1.51m |
*Including intangible assets of $41.8m, or 38¢ a share
£1=$1.75
| Half-year | Turnover | Pre-tax | Earnings | Dividend per |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| to 30 Nov | ($m) | profit ($000) | per share (¢) | share (¢) |
| 2005 | nil | -918 | -1.12 | nil |
| % change | - | - | - | - |
