Caspian Energy Share Discussion Threads

[manonthespot2] 17/2/2006 16:28

LOl,could be.

[mortie1] 17/2/2006 16:14

You don't think it might have been the half million shares bought in Canada today causing the tick up

[manonthespot2] 17/2/2006 15:57

Ditto pickle,I see it ticked up on my 6k purchase,hopefully I've got my timimg right.

[pickle2] 16/2/2006 16:57

Dipped a toe in.Would appear to be ahead of MXP where I have a biggish position.CEK has been making substantial progress with almost no visibility on these BB.Once the masses switch on to this share lookout VOG,EME etc.

[tinvan] 15/2/2006 10:33

Sranmal-thank you very much for the work.It is extremely useful. On the basis of this and my trawl through the bulletin board on Stockhouse (thanks too to WirralOwl for that) almost certainly going to put a few into my ISA. Looks to me like relatively little downside risk and a good deal of potential if you are not in too much of a hurry.

[wassapper] 15/2/2006 09:32

sranmal - Beta Plus for that - one day people might find what you do quite useful!!!!! :-))

[sranmal] 15/2/2006 09:26

My thoughts on CEK - jumbo66, if you feel this presents a useful summary and want to put some of this in the header, please feel free:

Caspian Energy (AIM:CEK)
------------------------
Caspian Energy is an oil and gas exploration company with operations in Kazakhstan. The Company owns 50% of Aral Petroleum Capital which is exploring the Zhagabulak Area of the North Block in Kazakhstan. Listed on both TSX and AIM so ISAble.

Shares in issue 84.3M (also has 9.2M options, 1.4 warrants). share price of £1.33 bid gives MC of £112M. Working capital 31 Oct '05 was US$15M. Raised US$16M on 7 Feb '06 through debentures which can be converted into shares. EV of approx £96M minimum.

Website:
(contains presentations, latest being 2 Nov '05)

Operations
----------
Caspian Energy acquired 50% interest in Aral Petroleum in Jun '04, which has the subsurface contract for 3,458 km2 of the North Block in Kazakhstan containing a producing field and a number of further prospects. Soviet 2D seismic exists and the Company is shooting new 3D sesimic. Remaining 50% of North Block owned by Azden Management. The North Block contains a number of big producing fields excluded from the Licence, eg. Zhanazol (848 mmbbls), Kenkiyak (500 mmbls), Alibekmola (210 mmbbls).

Out of interest, MXP's East Alibek Block is within the North Block but excluded and is miniscule in comparison to CEK's acreage - see pg12 of the CEK presentation, MXP's Block is the small square east of the Alibekmola field (although obviously, much of MXP's prospectivity is centred on their other 2 blocks which may contain giant fields).

East Zhagabulak Area: Estimated C3 recoverable reserves 187 mmbbls. Contains one producing well EZ-213, which produced 306 bopd during 3Q '05 sold at US$29.54/bbl ($17.46/bbl netback) - CEK has temporary 100% WI in this well. New 3D seismic has been performed by the Company over field area.

First exploration well EZ-301 encountered 101m net oil pay in two intervals. Lower interval (the primary target) flowed 2,532 bopd 39° API oil. Upper zone (a secondary target) currently being acidised with testing soon. Field pipeline already installed and the well is flowing to the production facility. The logging programme for the well has shown that apparent productive intervals were by-passed in earlier Soviet era wells. The Company is investigating major workovers on EZ-213 and nearby plugged well EZ-211. Second exploration well EZ-302 expected to reach TD before end of Mar '06.

Baktygaryn Area: Performed 235 km2 new 3D seismic with processing to be completed Apr '06. Estimated C3 recoverable reserves 259 mmbbls. 9 wells previously drilled, some with oil shows, high pressure or excellent reservoir rock properties.

Other Prospects: Reprocessing Soviet 2D seismic to identify further field area for 3D seismic. Kozdysay area has 170 mmbbls C3 recoverable reserves. Total C3 recoverable reserves for all identified prospects, including above 3, is 726 mmbbls (six identified so far in total). Rest of acreage still to explore.

Investment Rationale
--------------------
Company IMO will follow the path of Nelson Resources with production in 2 years of 10,000-20,000 bopd from 2/3 fields of say approx 200 mmbbls recoverable each. With, say, 400 mmbls producing reserves valued at $5 each, would give a MC of US$2BN (currently £96M EV). However, note that much of this reserve base would be P3 until more development wells are drilled so initial $/bbl will be a lot less.

CEK's acreage encloses Nelson's Alibekmola field. Nelson was bought out at $7/bbl and CEK management have stated their intent to sell off assets when proved up.

Note that CEK's wells are very deep and take a long time to drill (plus expensive). Newsflow is therefore limited and drilling of production wells may be equally slow. Current program shows wells for 2006 as new wells EZ-301, EZ-302 and one further EZ, possible workovers of EZ-211 and EZ-213, 2 new wells on Baktygaryn, one new well on 3rd prospect. Shows 2 rigs in operation by end of 2006.

Possible 8 wells in production by 1Q2007, 6 flowing minimum of 2,500 bopd and 2 workovers at possible +1,000 bopd each, giving CEK net production of minimum 8,500 bopd by early 2007 with 400 mmbbls P1/P2/P3 recoverable reserves.

IMO, there is potentially significant upside in the share price on a 18-24 month view.

DYOR, E&OE, no investment advice intended, etc, etc.

[seadog2] 14/2/2006 23:06

also watch beerbelly4,and ralfj, they've deep in it for a long time...

[wirralowl] 14/2/2006 21:50

No problem. If you visit the Stockhouse boards, the CEK board is pretty active. A fair bit of white noise, but the poster 'sandtrap' seems to have his finger on the pulse.

[wassapper] 14/2/2006 21:09

Great find Wirral. Thank you.

[wirralowl] 14/2/2006 20:57

Bought a few today. The stockhouse bulletin board has some interesting views from Canada, if anyone's interested. Talk of a poss. 9 wells in play by year end and potential for 10,000 boepd. Not bad for Mkt cap of around £110m.

Also found an interesting piece by Streetinvesting.com which I copied courtesy of mski :

Caspian Energy Inc.

TSX:CEK

Average Volume: 1,028,119
52-Week High / Low: 3.2 / 1.35
Shares Outstanding: 84,327,163


Streetinvesting.com, has commenced research on Caspian Energy Inc.(TSX:CEK) after share prices exploded Thursday rising over 28%, with an astounding 5,404,990 shares trading hands. The share price reached a day high of $3.14, nearing its 52-week high of $3.20.This occurred after news earlier that morning that Aral Petroleum Capital LLP, which the Company holds a 50% indirect interest in, had completed a successful flow-test in the Zhagabulak Area in the southeast corner of the North Block. Friday saw a slight share price dip of just over 9%.

Caspian Energy Inc. is an oil and gas exploration company, with operations in Kazakhstan where it has a number of targets in the highly prospective Aktobe Oblast of Western Kazakhstan. Currently, the Company holds an exclusive license which entitles it exploration and development rights to certain oil and gas properties known as the "North Block", an area of 3,458 square km.

The Company's license area lies immediately bordering to various producing fields, including the Alibekmola, Zhanazhol and Kenkiyak fields.

Caspian Energy Inc was formed in September of 2004 through a merger with Caspian Energy Limited, a private Ontario company and Northway Explorations Ltd, a Canadian, junior natural resource exploration company.
Caspian acquired a 50% stake in Aral Petroleum Capital LLP, in a joint venture set up in the early summer of 2004 between Caspian and Azden Management Ltd, a Kazakh company. Through this joint venture, Caspian holds a government-issued exploration contract to explore and develop the oil and gas reserves in the aforementioned "North Block," located in Aktobe region. The 3,458 square kilometer North Block area is in the vicinity of the Kazakh pre-Caspian basin and lies immediately adjacent to the various producing fields of Alibekmola, South Alibek, Zhanazhol and Kenkiyak.

The Company intends on focusing on the exploration and development of the North Block using the latest western techniques to show up the maximum amount of reserves from the minimum number of wells. This is beneficial because it allows professionals to take a closer look at areas with new technology, which can find things that were undetectable in the past. In the future, the Company intends to crystallize shareholder value either through selected developments or through a targeted program of disposals, at the appropriate stage of development of its assets, in the North Block.

In news released by the Company Thursday morning, Caspian proclaimed that the aforementioned Aral Petroleum Capital LLP, or Aral, had completed a successful flow-test in the Zhagabulak Area in the southeast corner of the North Block.

The Company's first exploration well, East Zhagabulak #301, reached a total depth of 4846 meters and encountered approximately 101 meters, or 331 feet, of net oil pay in Middle Carboniferous reservoirs. The well is being tested in two intervals. The lower interval, the primary target in the well, tested at rates of 2,532 barrels of oil per day, or b/d, of 39 degrees API gravity oil, following acidizing. The upper zone, a secondary target, is currently being acidized and testing is expected to be completed soon.

The logging programme for well EZ #301 has shown that the well is 38 meters updip to the offset producing well (EZ #213) and that apparent productive intervals were by-passed in earlier Soviet era wells. The Company is investigating a programme to add production through major workovers on EZ #213, and a near offset plugged well EZ #211.

In regards to the testing, Mr. Charles Summers, Caspian's COO stated, "We are very pleased with the success of our first exploration well in the North Block and this result exceeds our initial expectations and confirms our exploration strategy...The field pipeline is already installed and this well is currently flowing to our production facility. Our second exploration location, EZ #302, approximately 3.6 km. southwest of well 301, has set intermediate casing at 3003 meters, and is expected to reach total depth before the end of March".

As we have mentioned in previous articles, and as was touched upon in this article, Kazakhstan is situated in a favorable geological position and has a rich history of oil and gas production. However, aside from this, Streetinvesting.com feels companies with projects in this region are desirable because, as we've also mentioned before, there are only so many discovered oil and gas reserves in the world today. As oil and gas are both non-renewable energy sources, they are in high demand. This being said, there are also only a select few "major" oil and gas companies which control most of the market. And, as the world's supply is diminishing, so are their tapped reserves. Rather than calling it quits and retiring after their reserves run out, these "majors" are actively looking for new exploration and exploitation targets across the globe. Now, seeing as the Caspian Sea region, including Kazakhstan, contains the third largest reserve of oil and natural gas in the world, it seems plausible that many of these "major" oil and gas companies might be looking there for the future. However, as they know, most of the favourable land in this area is already in possession by "junior" oil and gas companies, such as Caspian Energy Inc.

Furthermore, those of you who have received our complimentary, weekly market sentiment know, our interests in non Middle Eastern oil and gas companies has been furthered recently with President George Bush's recent State of the Union Address. In the address, Bush stated, "We are going to drop our dependence on Middle East oil by 75% before 2025."

We feel that this could suggest that Middle East oil producers may soon be put on the back burner. However, whether or not these scenarios could be relevant to a Company such as Caspian is not for us to say. This aside, our research team is still interested in what this Company could offer for future investors, especially after news at the beginning of the week that the Company has a proposed financing to raise US$16 million through privately placed secured convertible debentures. Streetinvesting.com feels that this cash could play a great role in the Company's ongoing progress at its above mentioned sites. And, in an effort to see whether or not this could have a positive affect on share prices later this year, we will be monitoring this Company's future progress, keeping you, the investor, up to date on our findings.


The Street Investing Team,

Streetinvesting.com has no vested interest in the above companies and has not been warranted in any way.

[sranmal] 14/2/2006 18:49

Done the research already wassapper, just delaying posting it! Also, I can't put in any more funds to my ISA till next financial year so will have to buy outside my ISA for the time being. Was waiting for more funds to become available outside the ISA, all too complicated!

[wassapper] 14/2/2006 18:46

sranmal - don't worry this remains a quiet thread. Buying stock is not that easy. You can all do your own reserach starting with their website and fairly good investor relations section at

[sranmal] 14/2/2006 18:30

Decided not to post until I bought some! What a git, eh? As you can deduce, on a long term view, I find the Company attractive with potential for significant upside. I'll try and post my research tomorrow and if jumbo66 is around, he may wish to copy my research into the header.

[tinvan] 14/2/2006 18:22

Sranmal: what happened to the research you said you would post? Am really interested in this for my ISA, but would like to hear more of your views. (Have also just bought a few AEY, which are also dual-listed and so ISAble. Another v.interesting small Canadian oiler.)

[russia4ude] 13/2/2006 12:44

very nice flow rate and big net oil pay of 100 m!!
a big reserves upgrade is coming
big sky energy have also 2 new wells with together over 5.000 bopd test flow rate

where is cek and the other companies working?
look here!

[sharebuff] 10/2/2006 18:23

This share reminds of MXP in some ways, albeit CEK is more advanced. It has acquired acreage and set about drilling with the first well 'exceeding expectations'. I'll say !. Over 2500bpd from the first prospect - imagine what cashflow that might generate.

Second drill to reach target depth in six weeks. Despite the strong run the market cap is still modest compared to IEC and VOG. Another successful well and the share price could surge. What makes it more exciting is the limited number of free float shares.

[sranmal] 10/2/2006 16:39

Working capital on 31 Oct '05 was US$15M. Raised US$16M on 7 Feb '06 through debentures.

[sharebuff] 10/2/2006 16:37

Quite alot of cash too, I believe.

[sranmal] 10/2/2006 16:30

84.3M shares in issue.

[wirralowl] 10/2/2006 16:11

Anyone know the shares in issue, or Market cap (bearing in mind its dual listing on TSX)? Am I right in thinking its around the £100m mark ?

[hiddendepths] 10/2/2006 12:01

I checked with the Charles Stanley ISA department and it definitely qualifies.

[sranmal] 10/2/2006 11:26

It's dual-listed on the TSX so can be put in an ISA !!!

[biggcl] 10/2/2006 11:16

it's AIM and not isa-able!