Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping Share Discussion Threads

[humbugg] 27/11/2009 13:11

just thought i'd pop in and see how this is going. those who said it would rise to the placing price must be feeling very silly now. glad i sold awhile back when the writing was on the wall. good luck.

[deanroberthunt] 27/11/2009 12:56

well if the placing at 21.5p was supposed to support the share price and instill confidence that the share price is worth near that.......it didn't last for long and hasn't worked.

[deanroberthunt] 27/11/2009 12:05

21.5p....

now 6.5p on the bid....probably get about 3-4p trying sell the amount they bought...

[gwr7] 24/11/2009 13:42

"you can try ramping this dung all you like but top and bottom is they are an illiquid cash burning one trick pony."

nina, you are attempting to undermine real people and their jobs. Referring to the company they work for as dung is slanderous. They have battled against worse than you. For example, a Norwegian company who unsuccessfully tried to destroy them because of the competition they provided. EMGS were backed by a US merchant bank and the Norwegian State. What backing did OHM get from the UK? Well the UK patent office ruled in favour of the Norwegians, a decision subsequently quashed by the High Court. OHM have emerged the stronger for their battles and in that context your posts are shallow and trivial. As for your sarcastic one trick pony comment, they have CSEM, WISE and Rock Solid Images businesses.

This is a relatively quiet board. In general a case is being made for this being a recovery stock backed up by evidence when it appears.

[quraishim] 24/11/2009 09:17

nina u are a pain in th@rse...go away, whats your age???

[bones30] 24/11/2009 09:00

nina: shooo!

[troutisout] 24/11/2009 08:17

ninalog,
Go away...........

both Robson's posts have content in them that others may not have seen and are very useful for research, hardly ramps.

[ninalog] 24/11/2009 07:58

robandsons, you can try ramping this dung all you like but top and bottom is they are an illiquid cash burning one trick pony. Sad that you are trapped in but please don't get anymore poor souls trapped in with you. Like i say robandsons is best avoided as they are vagrants at best, spreading their ramps all over.

nina

[robson1974] 24/11/2009 07:55

From Rockhopper RNS today :-


Both Sea Lion and Ernest have direct hydrocarbon indications; Sea Lion in the form of an Amplitude Versus Offset anomaly and Ernest in the form of a positive Controlled Source Electromagnetic response, a fact that was ignored in the expert assessment of risk. Your Board, aware of the value of this technology, assigns a chance of success to Ernest of 40%

[gwr7] 23/11/2009 15:38

I haven't been enamoured with Dave Pratt's remuneration packages in the past as I don't think they were in line with achievement but the purchase of Rock Solid Images and subsequent appointment of Richard Cooper as CEO were astute.

[robson1974] 21/11/2009 12:14

Excellent interview :-

Back on the map: how Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping found itself again

20 November 2009

Richard Cooper recently secured a $2.5m contract from a Chinese oil company to look for new discoveries in West Africa. While the new cash will undoubtedly be welcome, Cooper is equally keen to use the deal to help him begin rebuilding the reputation of a technology that has divided the oil and gas industry for many years.

Since taking the reigns as chief executive of AIM-listed surveying specialist Offshore Hydrocarbon Mapping plc (OHM) in July, Cooper has been kept busy. Not only has he been forced to deal with eye-watering volatility in the oil and gas market, he has also needed to get the company's costs under control and breathe new life into the reputation of its flagship technology – controlled source electro-magnetic (CSEM) surveying.

Cooper acknowledges that while OHM has had to make some tough decisions in recent months, the exploration ambitions of its customers are beginning to grow and the company is now on a much surer footing to take advantage of interest in its technology.

Integrated technology

A geophysicist by training, Cooper headed up a seismic data specialist called Rock Solid Images for ten years before OHM acquired it in 2007. Throughout the turmoil of the last two years that traditional seismic and well data business has continued to prove resilient. It is the CSEM side that has proved more troublesome.

The two companies first came together back in 2005 when they started collaborating on technology that blended seismic data, well data and CSEM data in order to get a much more accurate view of potential oil and gas discoveries.

While traditional seismic and CSEM surveys achieve different results, the way the surveys are carried out is actually quite similar. Seismic surveys generally involve setting off an explosion either on land or in water and then measuring the sound waves as they bounce back from reflective layers in the earth. CSEM replaces the explosion with an electrical source that creates a giant electro-magnetic field which propagates through the earth and is then measured back up at the surface.

As their integrated technology flourished, OHM opted to buy Rock Solid for £10.4 million in August 2007 in an effort to resolve the issue of who actually owned the technology.

Cooper recalls that things became tough almost immediately after the acquisition, when the market's perception of CSEM data became obscured by over-aggressive hyping of the technology.

"Back in 2002, when it came on the scene, CSEM was being promoted by some of the providers as almost like a magic bullet," he said. "You could acquire CSEM data over a proportion of the earth and it would immediately tell you if you had hydrocarbons or not and where they were. It tuned out that it is just not that simple – the earth is a far more complicated place.

"There were very high expectations, particularly in the investment community. I think the oil and gas industry was a little bit more sensible and willing to be convinced. But there were some very large forecasts made for the market size, which turned out to be not true."

Unsurprisingly, the valuation of OHM and its competitors suffered badly and revenues fell away, leaving the company struggling to redress the situation.

Cooper reckons that one of the main problems was that the CSEM technology was being promoted as an alternative to seismic data "It is really a very important companion technology to seismic," he said. "You use it to add value to seismic as opposed to replacing the seismic – that's the way that we are pitching the technology now and that's how the oil companies are most comfortable using it."

These days, Cooper's explanation of CSEM is simple. While seismic data struggles to find fluids (such as hydrocarbons) under the earth's surface, CSEM is much more capable. This means a joint-approach is very effective.

"The beauty of integrating the two methods is in using the seismic data to give you the basic structural information," he said. "The question is then whether there is what engineers call a 'charge' – is there a hydrocarbon charge at the location. You can use CSEM to answer that question with some degree of certainty.

"It is an integrated strategy and I think that will be the way you see this technology evolving and used in the future."

Modest goals

While the reputation of CSEM data has been put under scrutiny in recent years, oil giants such as Exxon and Shell have continued to use the technology in their own oilfield analysis. Cooper points out that while oil majors can afford the capabilities to acquire, interpret and process the data in-house; the majority of companies need a specialist like OHM to fulfil the task.

Indeed, he says the recent contract to work with the Chinese Bureau of Geophysical Prospecting (BGP) in Equatorial Guinea, West Africa will hopefully be "a very positive result" by offering short term revenues and the long-term benefit of rebuilding confidence in the CSEM method.

The company has also fixed a long-term cash burn problem over its two sea-going vessels, the OHM Leader and OHM Express, by giving the vessel owner SeaTrans a stake in the company. In an unusual agreement for the industry, OHM is now using the vessels on a "pay-as-when-used" basis and is likely to enjoy easier negotiations with SeaTrans, which will be mindful of the longer-term value of its equity position in the company.

"We are comfortable that we have been through the worst, we have got all the issues solved and are looking forward to a brighter future now," Cooper said. "Looking ahead, we have some modest goals. We treat every contract like gold and want to make sure that every customer turns into a real zealot; so that they like the technology, they are comfortable with it and they get a result. As with any business, you need to build that confidence."

The good news is that with the new cost structure OHM can be selective about what it takes on – with an eye for projects that offer the chance for good, long-term relationships.

"That is the future of this technology – to very much restore confidence and build its reputation," Cooper said. "After that, it depends on the size of the market – you'll still hear a pretty wide spread of numbers up from a few hundred million to a couple of billion and we're probably somewhere in the middle of that. But first we need to get back onto the growth curve again."



Ben Hobson, SmallCapNews.co.uk

[gwr7] 19/11/2009 19:19

Extracts from the OHM and ION releases read well together, an opportunity to impress.

Richard Cooper, CEO of OHM commented, "We are delighted that BGP, one of the world's largest geophysical contractors, has chosen OHM as their supplier of choice for our WISE integrated CSEM products and services. We look forward to working with BGP on this first joint survey and developing a strong and long-lasting partnership to the benefit of all."

Mr. Wang Tiejun, President of BGP, added, "As an ION customer for many years, BGP has always been impressed with ION's vision and products, which have proven to be capable of improving the operational efficiency and the safety and environmental effectiveness of land seismic acquisition. By joining forces through our planned joint venture, we believe we can combine BGP's operational knowledge and experience, and emerging land seismic product portfolio, with ION's innovative products and culture to become the leading land seismic technology company of the 21st century. It is the intention of both ION and BGP that our joint venture will provide products and field support services to all land seismic contractors around the world, not just to BGP.

[robson1974] 19/11/2009 16:42

BGP are not messing around in their global strategic 'acquisition'/partnering program.

ION and BGP Announce Joint Venture for Land Seismic Equipment

HOUSTON and BEIJING, October 23 /PRNewswire/ -

ION to Receive US$175 Million Capital Infusion from BGP Majority of ION
Debt to be Repaid or Refinanced at Closing

[ninalog] 19/11/2009 16:27

slight uptick.

nina

[gwr7] 19/11/2009 16:09

nina pretty ballerina, put the tea on love.

[iantc] 19/11/2009 16:09

your boring me now nina ,a few posts a day and this is being ramped ,dont make me lol ,now go and annoy robson some where else ,oh you are!! on the mwa bb

[bones30] 19/11/2009 15:11

Are my eyes deceiving me?

[ninalog] 19/11/2009 13:35

t10 ers should be departing soon which unfortunately will probably take this all the way down to 3p area one suspects. Shame on the ramping team from monday. More AIM market dross but easy to trap people into what the market has to offer. Supsect it is best to watch which posters are behind this dreadful pump and dumping that is littering the boards.

nina

[robson1974] 19/11/2009 07:53

EMGS 3rd Qtr results out. Presentation makes interesting reading especially page 5 of 13 which shows increasing tender activity. Nice to get confirmation of that from OHM's biggest competitor.

[deanroberthunt] 18/11/2009 14:12

what did for the dinosaurs....allegedly.

[gwr7] 18/11/2009 14:04

Good summary dean:
if the product works and they have the appropriate technical staff to operate it effectively....delivering payback for customers..ALL BOXES TICKED

the product is promoted and/or becomes commom knowledge that it does what it says on the tin GETTING THERE

the Directors make the right strategic business decisions...HAVE BEEN FALLIBLE (PREVIOUS SHIPPING CONTRACT WAS A DISAASTER) BUT NEW GUY IS LIKE A BREATH OF FRESH AIR

we don't get hit by an ELE rock????

[deanroberthunt] 18/11/2009 12:49

simples...

if the product works and they have the appropriate technical staff to operate it effectively....delivering payback for customers..

and

the product is promoted and/or becomes commom knowledge that it does what it says on the tin

and

the Directors make the right strategic business decisions...

and

we don't get hit by an ELE rock

then this will be worth multiples of the current MCAP....


if it doesn't, then it'll go bust and delist.....like 100's of other start-ups

place your bets

[markth125] 18/11/2009 12:48

no, I'm robson!

[robson1974] 18/11/2009 12:48

I'm Spartacus.