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TPET Tangiers

0.575
0.00 (0.00%)
21 May 2024 - Closed
Delayed by 15 minutes
Tangiers Investors - TPET

Tangiers Investors - TPET

Share Name Share Symbol Market Stock Type
Tangiers TPET London Ordinary Share
  Price Change Price Change % Share Price Last Trade
0.00 0.00% 0.575 01:00:00
Open Price Low Price High Price Close Price Previous Close
0.575 0.575
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Posted at 19/2/2015 10:42 by philjeans
From yesterday's RNS;

Three directors of Tangiers, David Wall, Michael Evans and Stephen Staley
participated in the Placement (with shareholder approval received for this at
the Company's General Meeting on 12 February 2015) on exactly the same terms
as all other investors. The changes in their interests in Tangiers' securities
as a result of this is as below:

Director Previous New securities Current interest
interest issued
Shares Options Shares Options Shares Options
David Wall 9,916,666 - 4,250,000 1,416,667 14,166,666 1,416,667
Michael Evans 5,166,667 1,000,000 4,250,000 1,416,667 9,416,667 2,416,667
Stephen Staley 4,166,667 2,000,000 1,650,000 550,000 5,816,667 2,550,000

Further details of the above current interests (including direct and indirect
holdings and full option details) will be released in subsequent ASX Appendix
3Y announcements shortly.

Commenting on the success of the Placement, Tangiers Managing Director Dave
Wall stated, "The strong support for the Placement speaks volumes to the
quality of Project Icewine, and is a recognition of the outstanding upside
potential that the project offers for investors. Project Icewine benefits from
a unique combination of conventional and unconventional potential, along with
generous rebates offered by the State of Alaska. We look forward to completing
the acquisition of the Project with funds raised from this Placement as well
as progressing exploration."

"Planning and permitting for the drilling of our first well and acquisition of
3D seismic is already underway and we will be providing updates to the market
on progress in the very near term. In addition to increasing operational
activity over the coming months, the Company continues to progress strong
early interest in Project Icewine from a number of potential funding partners
and we hope to be able to provide news on that front later this year."

"The Board of Tangiers welcomes our new shareholders, and we thank our
existing shareholders for their ongoing support."
Posted at 18/2/2015 15:34 by philjeans
Thanks OTB - I've copied out the salient bits below as I think it's so important to new posters/investors.

From Oil Barrel - 23/1/15

8 Billion Barrel Resource Potential Confirmed


Eight is a very lucky number in China – and Tangiers Petroleum (ASX:TPT, AIM:TPET) is starting to come up with 8s all over the place.

It’s going to ask shareholders in the next few weeks to approve a name change to 88 Energy Ltd and it’s just been handed an Independent Resource Report identifying potential oil in place of 8 billion barrels at it’s Project Icewine (gross mean unrisked) in Alaska’s North Slope.

The same report also indicates recoverable oil potential of 492 million barrels (gross mean unrisked)…

These figures were conservatively evaluated by considering just 44% of the total project acreage for unconventional resources – appropriate given the early stage nature of the Project, however we see significant upside potential here if the entire project area is considered, the shale recovery factor is higher than first thought, or a shallower, conventional play works out.

Does the North Slope of Alaska have the right elements to become the next big thing in unconventional liquids-rich shale plays?

Tangier’s project partner, BURGUNDY Xploration, Inc., and it’s billion-barrel oil-finding principal, Paul Basinski, sure think so.

Basinski believes the “HRZ Shale” has the key ingredients that make the best shale plays “tic”. If anyone might know its Basinski – he spearheaded ConocoPhillips early mover advantage in Eagle Ford shale, and led them to acquiring ~320,000 acres in the sweet spot of the play at rock bottom prices.

Unique geological circumstances appear to have led to the formation of a higher-than-normal porosity and net shale pay, leading to a resource concentration that appears to be higher than the Eagle Ford, Bakken, Marcellus and Utica plays…

Meanwhile various companies are pouring tens of millions of dollars of exploration investment into a shallow conventional target on the North Slope. Owing to the significant sums invested and the potential for multi-million barrel finds, it’s the hottest play on the North Slope right now.

Regional studies and offset wells strongly indicate that this play may be present on TANGIERS acreage…

TANGIERS’ immediate neighbour, Great Bear, is about to start drilling the first of up to three high impact wells for this conventional prize based on their latest 3D seismic survey results – one proposed well location is one and a half miles from TANGIERS’ boundary…

Positive results from Great Bear are likely to have an immediate impact on TANGIERS’ valuation – currently with a humble market cap of less than $6M AUD at last market close on the ASX (and less than £3M at last market close on the AIM).

With an 87.5% working interest on 99,360 continuous acres in the prolific North Slope – and a slew of nearby drilling events to come in 2015, surely the attention of potential farm-in partners is starting to focus on TANGIERS…

TANGIERS is building up to a phased coring and drilling event in 2015/16 and plans to initially spend $2.1M (£1.1M).

The company will need to raise funds to carry out this work – and at its upcoming Extraordinary General Meeting its going to set in motion plans to raise up to $6M AUD (£3.2M) of capital and hopefully put the company on a path back to good fortune.

Are lucky 8s in store for TANGIERS?

TPT_UA4_010

Tangiers Petroleum

ASX:TPT

AIM:TPET
Posted at 18/2/2015 08:14 by kirk 6
great news today over subscribed and all insitiationl investors.
Posted at 19/1/2015 10:41 by proactivest
Video interview with MD Dave Wall



Dave Wall, the managing director of Tangiers Petroleum (LON:TPET), tells Proactive Investors the next steps for the oil explorer are to finalise the purchase of its acreage in Alaska and to raise the funds needed for the project.
Wall says the results of the Great Bear conventional drilling programme to the north of its new acreage will be a catalyst for the stock this year.
Posted at 07/1/2015 07:30 by molatovkid
Just skim read the January Investor update - looks very encouraging indeed.
Posted at 11/11/2014 16:38 by dalcon01
Everythings OK then ? lol



Tangiers targets new high value assets with the success of its recent new funding initiative. The company now has its destiny in its own hands.

Tangiers Petroleum’s goal remains the building of a successful exploration and production company, targeting overlooked or emerging play types. The Company is now in a rebuilding phase, having announced a planned exit from its Moroccan TAO-1 oil well play, made possible by recently acquired new funding.

Management at Tangiers Petroleum (ASX: TPT) admit it has been a rough ride for shareholders following the failure of its key Moroccan asset but MR. David Wall clearly explained the factors effecting the lack of success and highlighted they were beyond the company’s control due to the structure and involvement of other parties in the process. Importantly this structural problem will not be encountered again. Belief in the Company and its management team has meant that new funds have been raised and Tangiers is ready to move forward again.

The Company’s TAO-1 well was declared unsuccessful on the 4th August, having failed to encounter a quality reservoir or significant hydrocarbon but the final cost of the well also exceeded the Company’s internal budget.

“This was largely due to factors not associated directly with the drilling, which was completed safely and efficiently. Unfortunately, several of the costs were not fully quantified until after the well had reached total depth,” Tangiers Petroleum managing director, David Wall told The Australian Investor.

Following an internal strategic and technical review, the new board at Tangiers elected to exit its 25 per cent interest in the TAO-1 well and enter into a Deed of Settlement and Release with operator Galp Energia Tarfaya (Galp).

Following a brief suspension from trading, Tangiers was re-instated after reaching an agreement with Galp to pay $3.4m, in stock or cash, if the market capitalisation of Tangiers exceeds US$50m within seven years of the agreement.

After a final financial post-mortem, Tangiers revealed it spent A$12.64 million on exploration and evaluation in the three months to September 30.

An additional A$1.4 million was spent on operating costs, and the company was left with A$1.26mln at the end of the period, a figure well below company expectations.

“The well was drilled on time but not on budget, unfortunately ,” he said.

“If we had known the well was trending over budget we would’ve tried to raise some more money, but our only reference for tracking cost was the schedule and on that basis we thought we were OK.

“After the well had hit total depth, it became clear to us through some conversations with the operator that the costs were trending higher.

“The costs went higher than we imagined possible and we had to negotiate a settlement, which effectively meant that we owed Galp US $3.4 million, an amount we couldn’t pay.

“So we said we would transfer out our interest in the license to them and then if our market cap gets to US$50 million in the next seven years then will pay back the money – if we hadn’t taken that step, the company would’ve gone into administration.̶1;

Tangiers has now finalised its financial obligations with Galp at a total of US$18.56 million, funded by the Company’s cash position and leaving Tangiers with a cash balance of approximately A$1.25m.

“We had hoped if the well wasn’t successful that we would have at least $5 million in the bank as a starting point, but really we ended up with about one million.”

“I think shareholders recognise the new board including myself haven’t really had too many options available to us.

“The cost of the well was out of control as it was operated by Galp. That was a decision made before we came on board and there was nothing we could do about it.”

Having put the failed asset behind them, management is now positioning the Company to take advantage of several new oil and gas investment opportunities and has recently raised A$1.2mln to bolster working capital and support the company as it assesses new ventures.

“We’ve raised another $1.2 million to enable us to evaluate a lot of new ventures opportunities that we have, a couple of which are at fairly advanced levels of negotiation.”

The Company has also slashed overheads of greater than A$2.5m per annum, including cuts to staff salaries and Director’s fees.

“The new board, Non-Executive Chairman, Michael Evans, myself and Non-Executive Director, Dr Stephen Staley, really joined the Company for this period of its lifecycle – the rebuilding,” Mr Wall said.

He says the board remain focused on growing Tangiers into a successful exploration and production Company that delivers material benefits to its shareholders.

“We are committed to taking an interest in some material projects and to grow a significant business.

“We said to investors [in the capital raising] that this is a cheap entry price to get set again for the next stage. We could have raised more and had some good demand [for the capital raising], so that was encouraging.”

The Company’s strategy remains to target overlooked or emerging play types where its small but experienced management team can move quickly to capitalise on opportunities prior to larger players moving in.

“The opportunities we’re looking at are ones that can add significant value. We are not going to go and spend $2 or $3 million buying an asset that is going to produce 10 or 20 barrels a day and say look we are a production company.

“We want to look at things that have hundreds of millions of barrels of oil or a TCF or more of gas as a potential resource,” he said.

Details of on-going discussions remain confidential but management is hopeful of closing a binding agreement on at least one new deal before the end of the year.

“We’re not targeting short-term cash flow, we’re targeting short-term value creation,” he said.

“The past is the past and it was less than ideal. We own up to that and I believe a lot of people understand the reasons why things went out of our control. However, we now have control over the future of the business.”

Tangiers Petroleum now has its destiny in its own hands.
Posted at 12/6/2014 18:00 by travls
Tangiers Petroleum and the interest free loans to directors, to encourage dilution
BY BEN TURNEY | THURSDAY 12 JUNE 2014

20


Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, and no plans to initiate any positions within the next 72 hours. I wrote this article myself, and it expresses my own opinions. I am not receiving compensation for it (other than from ShareProphets). I have no business relationship with any company whose stock is mentioned in this article.

It is an immediate red flag for any stock listed on AIM, which holds its Annual General Meeting thousands of miles away. Irrespective of the nature of duel listings, companies on the London Stock Exchange should be directly accountable to British investors. Where shareholder approval is required, British investors should be given the opportunity to vote for or against proposals concerning the running of their companies. For God's sake, this is the age of the Internet, so why should investors be expected to traipse all the way to the other end of the world, so they can take part in a show of hands vote in Perth, Western Australian? Funnily enough, speaking of Perth, this is exactly where Tangiers Petroleum (TPET) has just held its AGM, at which the board gained approved for approval for the company's new and ludicrously generous Share Plan...

In a great triumph (is that the right word?) of shareholder democracy, all of the resolutions at Tangiers' AGM were passed through the support of roughly 30,000,000 shares. When you consider that Tangiers has 178,000,000 shares in issue, this means that 16% of the company's shareholders voted in favour of the proposals put by the board. On its own, this fact is absurd enough, but when you look into the detail of the various resolutions, it quickly becomes apparent what a mockery this is.

Most of the resolutions voted on at Tangiers' AGM deserve much closer scrutiny, but the two stand-out items were the adoption by the company of the new Share Plan (Resolution 6) and the share awards and loan made to Managing Director David Wall (Resolution 7).

The Share Plan looks like it is going to come back to haunt shareholders. Remember that this is a company, which just loves to issue new shares. Look at the RNS history of Tangiers and you will immediately see the large number of equity issues in the last twelve months or so.

Having established its penchant for dilution, it now appears that Tangiers wants to ensure its new directors get in on the act, through interest free loans made by the company.

That's right.

Cash-strapped and deeply troubled Tangiers, which had issued equity twelve times in the year preceding its latest desperate heavily discounted placement, is now authorised to make interest free loans to its board to allow them to buy shares in the company. Even Bill Kelleher and his fellow directors at New World Oil & Gas had the decency to pay interest on the $1million of loans they took out from their company to allow them to join in a placement party!

Full details of the Tangiers Share Plan can be read in the Explanatory Memorandum, which was released with the announcement of the AGM, but suffice to say this plan looks like the epitome of extravagant, risk free and guaranteed rewards for directors, which are the blight of so many companies on AIM.

David Wall must have woken up with a decidedly content feeling this morning. Lucky old Mr Wall became Managing Director of Tangiers on April 15th. In the RNS which announced his appointment, shareholders learned that Mr Wall would be paid a salary of $300,000 a year, would be entitled to a performance bonus of up to 50% of base salary and was granted 4.5million shares, subject to shareholder approval. This incredibly generous package, for an embattled company like Tangiers, was always going to raise a few eyebrows. Have a read of the RNS to see the vesting criteria for Mr Wall's 4.5million shares (worth roughly £400,000), but the interesting point about the loan Tangiers is going to make to him is, of course, that it is interest free.

Interest free!

£400,000!!!!

As you can probably guess, I don't plan to put any money into Tangiers. I couldn't care less if the share price goes up from here, as what is clear to me is that anyone who puts money into this company is buying into a lavish executive beneficiary scheme.

No thank you!

- See more at:
Posted at 30/5/2014 15:17 by h2owater
Tangiers Petroleum's momentum continues on Tarfaya block potentialBy Ian Lyall May 30 2014, 11:42am Investors are betting on the success of TAO-1 well, to be drilled by the Portuguese firm Galp, which has 50% of the blockShares in Tangiers Petroleum (LON:TPET, ASX:TPT) were up 12% as investors continued to tune into the significant potential of the Tarfaya block off the coast of Morocco.Friday's move builds on the momentum seen since May 16. In that time the stock has risen 48%.Investors are betting on the success of TAO-1 well, to be drilled by the Portuguese firm Galp, which has 50% of the block. Work is set to get underway in the middle to late next month targeting 758mln 'unrisked' barrels of crude – so the prize is huge for Tangiers, which is sitting on a 25% stake in the block."Tangiers Petroleum is a chance to invest in a pure-play, binary exploration well with potentially very large upside," said research house Edison.Its risked exploration net asset value for Tangiers is 39p a share – almost triple the current price of 14p.Operator Galp is chasing three stacked targets: Assaka in the Upper Jurassic; the main target Trident in the Middle Jurassic and will move on to TMA if the well is deemed a success.The shares, up a third in the past week, advanced another 10% 13.2p each in morning trade.Galp is expected to have drilled Assaka by mid-July and Trident by late August, according to director Steve Staley, who knows all about frontier exploration following his time with Cove Energy.
Posted at 23/5/2014 16:08 by illuminati1
Statement done during this interviewhttp://www.proactiveinvestors.co.uk/companies/news/68763/big-picture-tangiers-shares-on-the-march-as-market-tunes-into-company-making-potential-of-morocco-68763.htmlBIG PICTURE - Tangiers shares on the march as market tunes into company-making potential of MoroccoBy Ian Lyall May 22 2014, 11:19am Operator Galp is chasing three stacked targets: Assaka in the Upper Jurassic; the main target Trident in the Middle Jurassic and will move on to TMA if the well is deemed a success.Investors in Tangiers Petroleum (LON:TPET, ASX:TPT) will know soon if the Tarfaya block off the coast of Morocco holds the huge, company-making promise suggested by the pre-drill data.For the AIM and ASX-listed oil explorer has confirmed work will get underway on its first well in mid to late June.This follows the mobilisation of the Ralph Coffman jack-up rig (pictured), which will target a "best estimate" 758mln barrels of the black stuff.With 25% of the block, this represents an unrisked prospective resource net to Tangiers of 190mln barrels.So TAO-1 fits the very definition of a company-maker, particularly when you consider the group has a market capitalisation of just £21mln.It is operated by Portugal's Galp Energia, which has 50%, with the remaining stake is owned by ONHYM, the state-controlled oil company.Tangiers managing director Dave Wall described TAO-1 as a "highly attractive prospect for Tangiers' shareholders"."It is a very large structure located in shallow water within a proven play fairway and adjacent to an existing oil discovery," he said."All the ingredients required for exploration success are present in the region, giving Tangiers, and its shareholders, a good chance of success at TAO-1."Galp is chasing three stacked targets: Assaka in the Upper Jurassic; the main target Trident in the Middle Jurassic and will move on to TMA if the well is deemed a success.The shares, up a third in the past week, advanced another 10% 13.2p each in morning trade.Galp is expected to have drilled Assaka by mid-July and Trident by late August, according to director Steve Staley, who knows all about frontier exploration following his time with Cove Energy."As is common in these offshore wells, there is no major testing," he told Proactive Investors."With modern technology there is a lot of logging that is going to tell you a lot."A 110-metre oil column was discovered on the nearby Cap Juby licence being developed by Cairn Energy and Genel.However the crude was of the heavy variety, which is more difficult to extract and transport."This is encouraging, but we think we are in a better position to find light oil," said Staley comparing Tarfaya with the Cap Juby discovery."There are two questions. The first is heavy oil versus light oil, the other is reservoir quality and we have addressed these pre-drill."Much of this work has focused on the primary Trident target as a thorough analysis of the 3D and 2D seismic data, as well as close inspection of the geology beneath the Atlantic Ocean, identified the drill site for TAO-1."We have done much to reduce the risk of finding a bad quality reservoir," said Staley."We are carrying a 21% chance of success number. But that figure predates a lot of [seismic interpretation] work."Tangiers did a competent persons report before the 3D was shot and interpreted. "Galp has looked at the chance of success and is running with a substantially higher chance of success."
Posted at 09/4/2014 07:14 by illuminati1
Trading to resume.Excellent!Hunting for elephants offshore MoroccoSector Focus, Investors Chronicle2 April 2014http://www.investorschronicle.co.uk/2014/04/02/shares/sectors/hunting-for-elephants-offshore-morocco-IiTCWdyMWUv4bATrDg6XuN/article.htmlOil companies plan to drill as many as 10 exploration wells in Moroccan waters this year as the race to discover the next big oil field off the coast of Africa hots up. Many of the industry's biggest names - BP (BP.) Chevron (US: CVX), Total (FR: PA), Repsol (SP: REP) Kosmos (US: KOS), Anadarko (US: APC) and Galp - (PT: GALP) have snapped up attractive acreage in the emerging jurisdiction in recent years. Dozens of exciting smaller companies have, too.Morocco is still relatively underexplored, with fewer than 40 wells drilled offshore since oil explorers began looking for hydrocarbons there in the late 1960s. In comparison, more than 10,000 have been drilled in the UK Continental Shelf over the same period. Apart from the occasional gas discovery, the vast majority of Moroccan wells have been unsuccessful and, despite big finds in other nearby African nations, the region was widely ignored until recently.Yet advances in prospecting techniques, such as better three-dimensional seismic imaging, and new geologic theories of a link between Morocco and parts of West Africa - and even offshore Brazil - are tempting oil companies to spend hundreds of millions of pounds on high-risk exploration drilling. The North African country also boasts some of the most favourable fiscal terms in the world for oil and gas projects, as it currently imports more than 90 per cent of its gas and 99 per cent of its oil.Last month, Texas-based Kosmos Energy spudded the deep-water Foum Assaka-1 well, in which BP and Aim-traded Fastnet Oil & Gas (FAST) are minority partners. The high-risk, high-reward wildcat well is expected to take three months to complete and the companies hope it will locate a whopping 360m barrels of oil-equivalent (mmboe) resources. The odds of success, however, are estimated at a meagre one-in-10.Interestingly, it was Kosmos's work in the mid-2000s elsewhere in Africa that has led to Morocco's re-emergence as an exploration destination. After enormous oil deposits were found deep beneath the salt layer off the coast of Brazil, Kosmos's geologists had a hunch similar deposits might also be found off the coast of West Africa (in an area called the West African Transform Margin). The two land masses were, after all, once joined before slowly starting to break apart about 200m years ago.Kosmos began looking at Cretaceous-age rock formations offshore Ghana - rocks around 66m to 145m years old - since some of the largest sub-salt oil deposits of Brazil were also found in this rock layer. Oil companies on both sides of the Atlantic had been drilling shallower targets based on unsophisticated two-dimensional seismic data because they were easier to see on charts, but innovations in 3D seismic allowed operators to find deeper, Cretaceous-age reservoir targets more effectively.Kosmos's geologists' theory proved correct, and in 2007 the company discovered the world-class, 600m-barrel Jubilee oil field in waters off Ghana, in partnership with Tullow Oil (TLW) and Anadarko Petroleum.This was followed by Anadarko's Venus gas discovery 1,100 km away offshore Sierra Leone, and a handful of other major discoveries along the West African Trasform Margin. In 2012, African Petroleum had success with the same play offshore Liberia, while Afren (AFR) discovered 774mmboe resources in upper Cretaceous rocks offshore Nigeria last year. In most cases, the original discovery has also been followed up with the successful drilling of smaller targets in the immediate vicinity."As with elephants," says Stuart Amor, head of oil and gas research at broker RFC Ambrian, "petroleum fields tend to be found together. Furthermore, once a particular play type is shown to work, this de-risks the same play type elsewhere. Thus, once a frontier wildcat well makes a discovery, several more successful exploration or appraisal wells tend to follow."This hasn't proved to be the case with Morocco, though - at least not yet. Yes, explorers have followed the West African Transform Margin up and down the western sub-Saharan coast with relative success, but the play type has yet to be proven as far north as Morocco.Two exploration wells earlier this year, drilled by Cairn Energy (CNE) and Genel Energy (GENL), failed to find commercial quantities of hydrocarbons. One of the wells had been targeting a different play type - the Upper Jurassic and Middle Jurassic - but the other was targeting "Late Jurassic" and Early/Lower Cretaceous reservoirs. It did not encounter good-quality reservoir rock but, encouragingly, there were some gas shows which confirms a deepwater hydrocarbon system in the area.The main target for Kosmos's well, currently drilling, is the mid-Cretaceous formation. The well will also test two other intervals at the same time, the Lower Cretaceous (recently targeted by Cairn) and a shallower Tertiary play (from the younger Paleogene period, between 65m and 23m years ago).Below, we provide a brief profile of London-listed oil companies with exposure to upcoming exploration in Morocco.Fastnet Oil & Gas (FAST)Dublin-based, Aim-traded Fastnet holds a 9.4 per cent net interest in Kosmos's Foum Assaka block and is carried through its share of the drilling costs of the FD-1 well. Fastnet also holds an interest in several early-stage exploration licences onshore Morocco, as well as acreage offshore Ireland, where it is currently looking for farm-in partners.Tangiers Petroleum (TPET)Perth-based Tangiers has a dual listing on Aim and Australia's securities exchange. The small exploration company bought the rights to the huge Tarfaya block offshore Morocco in 2009, and signed up Portugal's Galp Energia last year to pay for exploration drilling. Tangiers is left with a 25 per cent interest in the licence and its portion of the costs for the first exploration well, due to spud in the second quarter of 2014, are covered. The well is primarily targeting a monstrous 867mmboe resource in four stacked prospects, all of which are in the Upper to Lower Jurassic formations. However, Tangiers says its geologists have already identified additional leads in the shallower Cretaceous formation. Early assessment by Tangiers indicates that the Cretaceous may contain prospective resources similar to the Jurassic.BP (BP.)Oil major BP struck a deal with Kosmos Energy last year to acquire a minority, non-operated interest in three blocks off the coast of Morocco totalling more than 25,000 sq km. Drilling success is unlikely to significantly impact BP's share price due to the company's size, but spokesman Robert Wine said of the deal at the time: "It fits with our exploration strategy of looking for significant opportunities in new basins."Genel Energy (GENL)Genel's first exploration well in Morocco, drilled earlier this year in partnership with Cairn Energy on the Juby Maritime licence, was a duster (a dry well). But the Kurdistan-focused oil group still has majority interests in two other big offshore blocks in the country. Exploration wells are planned on both the Sidi Moussa and Mir Left licences during 2014. We note, however, that Genel is "specifically focusing on the proven hydrocarbon system in offshore Morocco associated with Jurassic carbonates", rather than the unproven Cretaceous play that we are more interested in.Cairn Energy (CNE)Cairn has completed its drill programme in Morocco for 2014 and has yet to announce any plans to further explore its licences there.Serica Energy (SQZ) and San Leon Energy (SLE)Aim minnows Serica and San Leon were understandably disappointed with the unsuccessful exploration well drilled last year on Cairn's Foum Draa licence - Serica and San Leon held an 8 per cent and 14 per cent minority stake, respectively. There's still hope, however. Genel plans to drill a well on its Sidi Moussa licence later this year, and Serica and San Leon hold a 5 per cent and 8.5 per cent interest in that licence, too.Chariot Oil & Gas (CHAR)Chariot holds interests in three early-stage licences offshore Morocco, but seismic work is not complete and drilling is not expected until 2016 at the earliest.Gulfsands Petroleum (GPX) and Circle Oil (COP)Both companies own extensive acreage onshore Morocco, where they are exploring for shallow gas deposits. Gulfsands is a rather new entrant, having acquired most of its acreage in December 2012, but Circle Oil is already producing around 7m cubic feet per day from its fields, generating about $20m (£12m) in revenue per year.FAVOURITEWe think Kosmos' Moroccan Cretaceous targets are the most prospective of the bunch, and Fastnet offers a cheap way to gain heavy exposure to the play. At 10p a share, Fastnet's shares are trading at a substantial discount to broker Cantor Fitzgerald's core value of 16.5p a share and 28p estimate of risked net asset value. However, on the admittedly small chance drilling is successful at FD-1 next month, Cantor estimates Fastnet's share of a discovery could be worth 34p a share fully de-risked. Ahead of drill results, we rate the shares a speculative buy.OUTSIDERChariot Oil has been restocking its exploration portfolio with early-stage licences ever since its shares nose-dived in 2012 following unsuccessful drilling offshore Namibia. Chariot now has interests in three Moroccan near-shore blocks far to the north, reportedly prospective for a mix of Jurassic, Cretaceous and Tertiary plays. Drilling is not expected until 2016 at the earliest, though, and remains subject to farm-out deals being completed. In the meantime, catalysts for the shares to re-rate are hard to spot.THE BROKERS' VIEWAs a significant proportion of North Africa struggles with political unrest and growing investor uncertainty, Morocco's oil and gas sector has come to the fore, with the arrival of international majors and independents in search of Africa's next big hydrocarbon province. Material discoveries offshore Brazil have raised hopes that similar hydrocarbon formations lie unexploited off the African coast. In addition, early finds offshore Ghana and Angola have further attracted the interest of majors with deep-water experience.After modest interest over the past 10 years, 2013 saw a number of significant entrants to both onshore and offshore licences. BP, Chevron, Kosmos and Cairn have all announced new projects or farm-ins in the past six months alone, illustrating a rapid increase in corporate appetite for the region. These major players have commenced targeting the country's potentially significant resource base, particularly offshore with more than 10 wells planned this year.Equity investors looking for an entry point into Moroccan explorers can sufficiently de-risk their positions while still benefiting from the potential upside any discovery would yield. On the smaller end, Fastnet Oil & Gas has materially de-risked its exposure both financially and geologically. The company successfully executed a farm-out of its interest in the Foum Assaka licence, gaining up to a two-well carry on the drilling costs. The FA-1 well, which is currently drilling, will target three formations, one of which has a prospective resource base of 360mmboe alone - on that basis, we believe Fastnet's share price represents a compelling entry point ahead of drilling results this summer.On the larger end of the scale, investors can gain exposure to this up-and-coming hydrocarbon province through BP, Kosmos, Cairn and Chevron - all having key acreage and healthy balance sheets to fund frontier exploration.Sam Wahab is a research analyst at Cantor Fitzgerald

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