Oil & Gas Corporate News
Desire Petroleum (LON:DES) (BUY, £2.00) (DES, 92p, ? (5.15%)) announced that the clean out of the 14/15-1Z sidetrack well on the Rachel prospect has not proved possible due to mechanical failure of the wellbore and it will therefore not be possible to obtain any wireline logging data from this well. However, the data acquired during drilling operations (from logging while drilling tools and geological data from cuttings) indicates that around 25m of sand with oil shows was encountered. However, in the absence of wireline logging data it is not possible to fully assess the significance of these results and, in particular, reservoir properties and the hydrocarbon saturations associated with these sands cannot be confirmed. The current well will be plugged and abandoned prior to moving the drilling rig to a new location on the Rachel prospect. The data collected from both the Rachel main bore and sidetrack will allow the selection of an optimum location to drill a vertical well to further evaluate the potential of the Rachel prospect and undertake a comprehensive logging programme. Undertaking the logging programme in a vertical well should avoid the geomechanical problems encountered in the sidetrack which were shown to be a consequence of drilling a deviated wellbore in an area where very little regional stress data is currently available. This proposed move to another location on the Rachel prospect is subject to obtaining all necessary regulatory and partner approvals in a short time frame. In the event these approvals are not rapidly forthcoming, the rig will instead move to drill the Dawn/Jacinta prospect and return to Rachel later in the drilling programme.
Ascent Resources (LON:AST) (BUY, £0.20) (AST, 4.88pe, ? (0.0%)) announced the appointment of Mr. Scott Richardson Brown as a Non-executive Director with immediate effect. With effect from 4 January 2011, he will be appointed Executive Finance Director, replacing Mr. Simon Cunningham who is re-locating to Australia. Mr. Cunningham will continue to work for the Company in his existing role on a full time basis until the end of 2010 supporting a managed transition and thereafter, will be available on a consultancy basis to help maintain the momentum in the development of Ascent's European oil and gas portfolio. Mr. Richardson Brown is a qualified Chartered Accountant and subsequent…
