Columbus Energy Resources Share Discussion Threads

[12bn] 26/6/2020 07:32

What I do is my business not yours arry. What is your average price here bearing in mind you held these before the consolidation,is it 10p,20p more? I understand your anger here,poor,poorer arry. :)

[arrynillson] 25/6/2020 23:05

12bn - no anger from me - I said a series of threads trolling CERP which means a number, coming one after the other, so no lying from me just look at your thread history 12bn!

You claimed to have invested in LGO shares and made money - you also claim to have set up rampy threads - that sounds logical to me - most threads are set up to ramp shares and I believe most readers of these boards understand that association - usually people either win or lose on a share - setting up a thread just to troll a share often many times a day seems very odd to me - you still haven't explained why you did it - you've been asked that question regularly by many posters!

[12bn] 25/6/2020 21:01

Poor arry,resorting to lying again,a lot of my threads on the LGO/CERP entity were very rampy in the early years. LGO went from 0.4p to 6.9p but since the name change to Cerp your investment has gone from 7.25p to now,1.8p bid. No wonder you are upset with me,I was right to be negative and you hate that. :) ///////LGO Energy (LGO)

Follow LGOBuySell
LGO 0.2p to over 1p,the oiler to be in.

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[eggchaser] 25/6/2020 13:18

A good read but it does make me shudder to think about the age of that interview and what they have done since 2012?Any BPC experts able to fill in the gaps?

[arrynillson] 25/6/2020 11:31

12bn - no anger from me - you're the one who clearly didn't understand filtering - thought it would make me go away and leave you to write unchallenged tosh - eventually you realised that the rest of the world was enjoying my responses at your expense - hence the unfiltering!

Talking about throwing things out of the pram 12bn who was the dummy that set up a series of threads over years on CERP just to troll it!

[alistair4444] 25/6/2020 09:21

interesting article...

Paul Crevello and the oil-rich possibilities for Bahamas Petroleum Company

May 19, 2011 by Ben Hobson

Dr Paul Crevello is no stranger to the oil-rich potential of the waters surrounding the golden beaches of The Bahamas. Time spent studying the regional geology in his graduate days was the prelude to 40 years as an exploration expert, working initially at Marathon Oil (NYSE:MRO) and then his own consultancy in more that 40 countries, before he returned to home territory in 2006. On the same day that Hardman Resources was acquired by industry giant Tullow Oil (LON:TLW) in September that year, Hardman’s founder Alan Burns met up with Crevello and explained his Bahamian plan. For Crevello, it was a simple decision: “I think it took about 15 minutes to explain the project; from what I knew, my background, I thought it was a good area all along,” he says.

Given its proximity to the Gulf of Mexico and Cuba’s offshore oilfields, The Bahamas has naturally been a target for oil companies in the past. However, a near total absence of geological and past drilling data combined with tumbling oil prices all but killed off exploration efforts by the mid-1980s. It took Burns and Crevello months of work to track down the information they needed to apply for their licences ahead of bringing their company Bahamas Petroleum Company (LON:BPC) to the Alternative Investment Market in September 2008.

Since then, Bahamas Petroleum has been stunned by the potential of what it has seen from early 2D seismic surveys over its 100% held licences to the south of the islands. The data shows multiple structures with 4-way closure ranging in length from 10 to 75 km. Further west, the company has been joined by Norwegian giant StatoilHydro (NYSE:STO), where test work is also ongoing and further license applications are in the pipeline. With a more detailed 3D seismic survey about to get underway and a £45.6m fundraising recently secured, Crevello is now eyeing the possibility of drilling the company’s first well in 2012.

Paul, oil exploration in The Bahamas has a relatively brief history that more or less came to a halt in the mid-1980s. What is your reading of the activity that has gone on there previously?

Well, five wells were drilled. The initial one in 1947 by Superior Oil was right after World War II and it was a time when companies were looking for another Middle East. Superior drilled the first well and did find hydrocarbons in the Andros Island # 1 but it was more of an engineering feat, they lost about 11,000 ft of drill string and had to fish for quite a while to clear that hole, so it was quite a challenge. Then in 1958, a well was drilled on Cay Sal Bank by Gulf but it was a farm-in from Zapata Oil, which was a company that was run by Howard Hughes and George Bush Snr. That well had oil shows from 7000 ft down to TD at 18,000 plus ft. It was the first well that was actually drilled in such a major step-out from the Mississippi Delta, where all the wells were being drilled at the time, very close to inshore. This was considered a significant wildcat step-out but it was also during the Cuban revolution so I’ll leave it to your intrigue to fill in the rest, but it was one of the most expensive wells drilled at that time. When we announced the Statoil deal our PR group in Houston had contact with George Bush Snr and he was quite impressed and happy to see that it was being followed up on because he had strong beliefs that there was potential for good oil to be found there.

The next wells were drilled by Mobil and Chevron in 1971 and 1972. One was the Long Island #1, that was drilled way out to the east, and then the second one in 1972 was the Great Isaac #1 well that was drilled north of Bimini, almost opposite Fort Lauderdale. Both of those wells also had good oil shows in them and, in fact, the Great Isaac well had gas and condensate to the surface. In those days nobody was really after those types of hydrocarbons, they were after oil.

Then it sat quietly for a while. A lot of seismic had taken place in the 1970s and into the 1980s. Getty was one of the bigger ones to come in and shot quite a bit inboard from Bimini. Then Royal Dutch Shell (LON: RDSA) shot quite a bit of seismic in the shallow water down in the southern part of The Bahamas, and then Tenneco came along in the mid-1982-83 period and drilled their well in 1985. They basically picked up a concession at a time when the price of oil was going up and started drilling their well when the price of oil was going down; by the time they’d plugged and abandoned the well, oil was down to about $10 or $12 a barrel. So that pretty well shut down exploration in The Bahamas until about 2003 or so when the price of oil started coming back up again.

Now the seismic in those days used a cable that was only 4 km in length behind the boat and the acquisition of seismic in less than 30-40 ft of water was a major challenge. It remains a challenge today but it is well advanced now to a point where they can acquire very good data. But back in those days, there were so many problems that it was very difficult to acquire seismic in shallow water depths. So all the data that you see shot in the shallow water, I would say 99% of it is very poor quality and you could not see anything below the upper surface. Tenneco’s geophysical technical team had to place a well based on their commitment and they could see these major structures in the deep water but at the time they didn’t have the technology to drill them at those depths - about 1600 ft - because nobody was drilling in more than 1000 ft in the mid-1980s. So they drilled in shallow water as close as they could get and had significant oil shows in the well. But then with the falling price of oil, and I guess as far as they were concerned the fact they didn’t hit any pool of hydrocarbons, they were facing an additional $260m exploration programme and they decided to pull the plug on it.

The Bahamas’ independence was in 1972 and the last well was drilled that year but now no-one can find any of the geological information preserved within The Bahamas, and that creates a problem. If you are a country that is trying to encourage exploration you have to have an open data room. If you don’t have data you can’t really convince companies to come and evaluate the potential property. So that is what started us on our treasure hunt of searching the world for data and it took us a good three years plus to pull it all together.

It must have taken a great deal of groundwork to try and figure out which licences you might be interested in and potential prospects. What has been your approach to producing accurate data?

It did, it took quite a bit of work but then, in the end, it turned out that we were the only ones that really had the full, comprehensive data set. A lot of the old majors had bits and pieces but nothing to the extent that we have and I think that is evident because all of them have come through our data room to review these studies. We then felt we had progressed enough with the vintage seismic data that it was time to really move on to our own phase of exploration. Last June there was a boat passing through the area on its way down to Trinidad to acquire some seismic and so we grabbed them for three days and ran some special testing, and that was with Spectrum. We used 10 km cable and special types of acquisition parameters versus the 4 km cable that was used in 1986, and that was important in capturing the large curvature of these folds. With the short cable, you weren’t receiving all the technical information back from the sub-surface, whereas with the long cable we were able to evaluate the full potential of these folds. We could see that they were actually quite simple folds without any degradation of the reservoirs, without any significant faulting, and that’s important because it told us that the reservoirs had long continuity in reach, both across and along the length of these structures. That is in contrast to areas, perhaps in the northern Gulf of Mexico, where you have a lot of these structures that are quite heavily broken up by faults so it takes a lot more wells to drill them. We can test larger areas with fewer wells, so it was important to realise that.

Then we decided we had an opportunity with SeaBird, who were available to shoot seismic surveys, and we went out and did our first gridded 2D survey. From the vintage data, we had a series of lines that had no real consistency to them, they were sort of crisscrossing and not in a fashion that could help you to find where the structures ended and where they began. So we designed a survey where we would just continually shoot at specified distances of 5 km until we saw the beginning of the folds and the end of the folds and that is what we did most recently in January. The early result that came out in mid-February was telling us that the structures were up to 70 km in length and over 100,000 acres in aerial size, which is huge in comparison to what you see in the northern Gulf of Mexico. For instance, prospects in the order of 10,000 to 15,000 acres are considered very large in the northern Gulf of Mexico where they are doing exploration off the Mississippi Delta. We had acreage that was multiple times that size and really approaching the size of the major folds that you see in the Middle East, in the Iran/Iraq Zagros fold belt or other major fold belts that you get in South America, anywhere you have these types of major plate collision zones.

That was all extremely encouraging for us and we were planning our 3D survey to try and get something to take place in the autumn and had begun communicating with some of the major seismic companies. Because of circumstances in North African and the Middle East, seismic boats became available because of the force majeure off the Libyan coast and so we were getting calls for the availability of boats much sooner than we had anticipated. That was actually the impetus to go out and do the early raise; we had no intention to do that at such a time but to take advantage of these boats becoming available and then helping us progress our exploration programme more quickly we felt that was a good opportunity to go out and raise additional funds. We were quite successful at that, it was quite a healthy oversubscription, of which we turned back a considerable amount – we can only justify what we need to spend and that is what we did.

That brings us up to where we are. The 3D boat will show up now at the end of May, and the exciting thing about this survey is that it is the first time that CGGVeritas has applied their BroadSeis technology in the Gulf/Caribbean area. It is a new type of technology and they are going to be using 10 seismic cables that will be 8 km long and about 100 metres apart, so this is going to be a huge survey. Most certainly there has not been a 3D survey done in The Bahamas as of yet and this is going to be about a 3,000 km survey, which is large by any standards.

You have got your 100% licence areas in the south and you have also got joint applications with Statoil to the west, plus you are interested in other areas. Where is the focus at the moment and where will the 3D seismic survey take place?

The 3D survey will focus in the southern licences where we have these large folds, these prospects that are in the order of up to 70 km in length, with up to perhaps 1.5 km of vertical closure. What is important is that we were able to determine that these structures have full 4-way closure based on the formation of how these traps developed. Essentially you can picture this as an upside-down bathtub up to 70 km long and that vertical closure is essentially the depth of the bathtub up to 1.5 km or more, and that is huge. That is the full potential – it doesn’t mean it is going to be filled to that extent but it tells you that you have significant opportunity for large volumes to be filled provided enough hydrocarbons are generated. We know lots of hydrocarbons have been generated in the Cuban fold belt and we are essentially in the same geologic province as the oil that was sourced for Cuba and the oil that was sourced in the southern Gulf of Mexico, for those major fields that are in Mexico. Cantarell is a 35 billion barrel field, Golden Lane I think is about 10 billion. So all of these major fields in the southern Gulf of Mexico, within Mexico itself, are formed in the same types of geologic setting, the same age rocks and are being sourced by the same types of original source material that we have in our area. So all of these things are very exciting for us and I think show potential for positive results.

Obviously the BP incident in the Gulf of Mexico has had licensing implications for very many oil companies. Where do you stand in terms of securing new exploration licences and how straightforward will it be to get the go-ahead for drilling in The Bahamas?

We have been advised by the Government to move forward on our environmental impact assessments, both in the joint venture with Statoil and where we are doing our own work in the licences that we have 100%. So we have to do a well EIA, which we are currently undertaking and should be done in Q3, and we are also doing an environmental exploration EIA over the Cay Sal region, with Statoil running that as the operator. So the Government has given us indications to move forward on our exploration programmes. We are getting positive support from them. I think they realise the potential this could bring into the country if we were to develop a revenue stream based on production.

Ahead of drilling you are seeking to bring in a partner or partners to work with you. From the conversations that you have had, how optimistic are you that you’ll be able to form a joint venture that gets you what you want?

The farm-out talks are progressing very well, we have a lot of interest; we are in discussions with a couple of companies in bringing in multiple farm-in partners. With the new data set that is available on the recent 2D seismic, there will be some additional discussions and review. We have major companies calling us that we didn’t have to go out and illicit a response from, they see the opportunity. So that is progressing very well. We intend to retain some of the acreages back but really the key is to bring a major partner that will operate – the type of partner that the Government is going to see has the respect among the industry and has the depth and the wherewithal to be able to meet any potential challenges that may occur in drilling.

It is a significant point to make, though, that the geology here in The Bahamas is not as risky an environment to drill as it is in the northern Gulf of Mexico. These limestone reservoirs do not have the type of overpressuring that you see in the very rapidly deposited sandstone reservoirs that they have coming off the Gulf of Mexico, Mississippi Delta. So that is a major difference. We have found that with the 10 or 12 wells that have been drilled in this region, in the Florida Keys, The Bahamas and the northern part of Cuba, that none of the wells has encountered highly overpressured reservoirs. So that risk is not really going to be there but at the same time you always have to be prepared, so our EIA work is undertaking ocean spill modelling. We are looking at the potential for something like that and this is something that we are in a very advanced stage with using the University of Miami. In fact, their Oceanography Department is probably the leaders in this type of computer technology. We have all the confidence that we are not going to have issues with the drilling but you just have to be prepared.

We are compliant through to the end of 2012, so we are in a good position to maintain our exploration programme and to cover these current exploration expenditures. At the same time, we’ll be looking for cost recovery from our farm-ins, so we will be picking up additional cash from that and our intentions are to be carried on a multiple well programme. So it would be some time before anything is required.

Paul, thank you very much for your time.

Thank you.

[12bn] 25/6/2020 07:06

Has your mum found your rattle yet arry? You really should stop throwing it out of your pram when you get angry,which seems to be frequently. Do have a nice day. :)

[arrynillson] 24/6/2020 16:22

12bn - not at all upset just thought I would give it one last try to explain why I replied to you for years even though you claimed to have filtered me!

Folks seem to think they can write tosh on here and magic away anyone who disagrees by filtering - they are only kidding themselves but if you still believe it 12bn that's not my problem!

[cashandcard] 24/6/2020 11:13

Spangle, #10908


Well articulated. Its a huge roll of the dice on P1 when they could have stuck to their current stable of assets. They should have moved those towards further development and cashflow, without any dilution or downside from a big one-off event.


Cash

[12bn] 24/6/2020 07:59

Poor arry,always so upset,there there arry,now please don't spit your dummy out and throw your rattle out of your pram like you usually do. :)

[12bn] 24/6/2020 07:56

UAE to build $20bn pipeline in the news today. That should help increase oil supply just when demand is falling but I accept that things could be different by the time it is completed.

[12bn] 24/6/2020 07:28

Eggy,the truth is nobody knows if this merger will work out and even if it will be voted through. It does have the advantage of bringing a lot of new investors to Cerp to absorb some of the Schroders selling and this can only slow the drift lower that this selling would have caused. It is a gamble to do an expensive sea drill in the Bahamas but despite having an agreement with a driller to do that, I still will not be surprised if for one reason or another that drill never happens. The combined outfit of BPC/Cerp will then have cash and the SWP of Trinidad to drill. I have always said that Cerps best chance of a 'game changer' would be a successful DEEP drill to the Herrera sandstone level at 12000ft,another big gamble though. ps I never read either yours or Eggys posts when I said I filtered you until much later,sometimes months later,so all your postings were outdated and pointless.

[nexus7] 23/6/2020 23:40

Optimism Has Returned To Oil Markets


• Optimism is growing in oil markets as WTI breaks above $41 and Trump hints at a trade deal with China.
•
• While there is a wide spread in oil forecasts for 2020, an increasing number of analysts see $50 as a very real possibility before the end of the year.
•
• The U.S. shale industry is bracing for a wave of bankruptcies as it prepares to write down more than $300 billion in assets.

[eggchaser] 23/6/2020 21:46

Noooooo that's getting edited tomorrow when I arrive back in the office!!! Lol!!!

[rogsim] 23/6/2020 21:35

EggChaser,

"You have to crack a few eggs to make an omelette" is, word-for-word, the phrase that Neil Ritson used when we had a private conversation about Leni Gas and Oil's move into Trinidad. It brought back memories...

[eggchaser] 23/6/2020 20:45

Spangle you are right in some respects but I disagree too - first the company is not being sold and the share price is not set - so if the BPC share price heads north, before the merger, we benefit from the rise at a discount to their share price on the day or have I got it wrong?

In my view LK has done well and whilst the share price maybe static today it could still go up or down tomorrow, so I don’t buy that he has achieved nothing as investing is surly about a compelling story, buying into it and then the delivery of the book? To read just over half of it and then try to review it is not possible or fair in my view?
One thing LK has given is hope and a sizeable discovery at Saffron as well as an entry into Suriname plus a chance with other projects. I remember that lost drill too and it was terrible, but in LK I think we have someone who knows what he is doing and needs time to deliver something it appears Schroders dont have the luxury of and to be fair is one of if not the main reason the share price bumbles around at 2p? Had they of not been divesting then imagine where we would be now?

For me I judge on the delivery of the 5 year plan and as they saying goes you can judge a summer with the sight of one swallow so until the thermometer hits 30 degrees Ill pass judgement!

[eggchaser] 23/6/2020 20:40

Ahhhhh so Mike Joseph but who is Laura??! Anyway believe it or not if he has not divested any of his holding adds more weight to the arguments for the merger as no one wants to lose money and despite disagreements with some I don't wish that on anybody.

[spangle93] 23/6/2020 20:16

To some, clearly, Leo Koot is a legend

Leo Koot arrived in May 2017. Share price was 2p
Leo Koot sells the company out in June 2020. Share price is around 2p

If you bought when he took over the company, your holding is worth just the same 3 years later. Not the stuff of legends really. I guess to those who sold 6 months after his arrival though, at 7p, indeed he was a star.

Now, many here support the case that it's worth merging as a minor party for the chance, with dice weighted against us, to make our fortunes, on the basis that one man has seen the data - data that Equinor and other data room viewers apparently don't think make a compelling case.

It's often said that "AIM is a casino". We will soon enter that casino.

And before you discredit this by saying I'm not a holder, I've been in this share since Lenigas ran it. I just don't post because thanks to a tool getting stuck in the hole in 2015, my holding is now not large enough to be worth the effort of following the thread. I would just rather keep the bit I have left than chuck it all at the wheel of fortune just cos one guy is feeling lucky.

[jcgswims] 23/6/2020 17:58

I posted this on LSE. If you wish to be notified when Schroders sell, then register for CERP emails. The notifications don't appear on LSE or ADVFN etc, just on the CERP site.

[jcgswims] 23/6/2020 17:41

Egg, The RNS that was just released show Mike and Laura's combined holding. When I looked at the IU's I thought Mike may have sold some as his IU was only 63,537,605 and that was less than his last declared holding, but this isn't the case.