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Proactive weekly oil and gas news summary - VOG, Oilex, GKP and Nostra Terra

Last updated: 04:01 01 Nov 2014 EDT, First published: 05:01 01 Nov 2014 EDT

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Cameroon- focused Victoria Oil & Gas (LON:VOG) reached a hotly anticpated milestone this week.

The laying of pipe on the Bonaberi shore marks the crossing of the Wouri River and effectively the opening of a new hub for the emerging Cameroon utility within the industrial city of Douala.

Victoria says its operating subsidiary Gaz du Cameroun (GDC), already has three industrial customers signed up on this side of the Wouri River, in the Bonaberi-Magzi Estate area.

It adds to the network GDC has established in Douala, all of which is serviced by the group’s Logbaba gas field nearby.

"This crossing under the Wouri River is truly an outstanding achievement by our contractor Britanica and our GDC engineering team,” said chairman Kevin Foo.

Also from the sector this week, Oilex (LON:OEX)'s proof of concept well on the Cambay tight gas field is expected to be productive and revenue generating.

Oilex, the operator, saw shares nudge higher Friday as it revealed the Cambay 77-H well programme is now almost complete and it has achieved many proof of concept objectives.

Progress may have been a little slower than some investors had anticipated.

But it seems India focused Oilex is steadily de-risking the Cambay field in the country’s Gujarat region.

It is understood that Oilex intends to drill more wells in the future which will further refine drilling, fracking and completion processes.

When investors clicked into Gulf Keystone’s (LON:GKP) Friday  update the reaction may have been likened to rediscovering a winter coat - “I forgot I even had that”.

Gulf Keystone shares advanced after its partner MOL announced a two-step field development plan for the Akri Bijeel field in the Kurdistan region of Iraq had been approved.

It opens up the promise of yet more production growth potential, but it also serves as a reminder that the cash-strapped company has not managed to sell the project yet.

The 20% stake in Akri Bijeel was put on the selling block about three years ago and GKP’s management at that time expected to realise “hundreds of millions” in proceeds.

Elsewhere, Nostra Terra (LON:NTOG) advanced as it revealed an 80% rise in quarterly oil production as exploration and production activity continued to grow.

The junior oil group’s net production totalled 7,359 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) in the three month period, July through September, with the rate averaging 84 boe per day during the third month.

Revenues for the three months totalled US$590,941, and for the first nine months of the year the tally exceeded US$1.3mln.

During the quarter, one well, CT-3, in the Chisholm Trail play, reached ‘pay-out’ 18 months after coming online.

NTOG has also seen a work-over successfullycompleted for another well, CT-14, and currently has interests in ongoing drilling operations for two wells, CT-16 and CT-18.

These wells could have a significant impact as NTOG has a 20% interest in each programme.

Another riser this week was oil and gas investment company TXO (LON:TXO) on news of a favourable verdict from a New York court case involving Empire Energy (ASX:EEG). 

The AIM-quoted energy resource firm owns a 25% indirect stake in Empire, which was being sued by Smart Win over oil drilling funding in Tasmania dating back to 2008. 

TXO said a New York judge denied the A$2mln motion by Smart Win while ruling that Empire could proceed on its breach of contract counterclaim against the firm.

Wentworth Resources (LON:WRL) is making good headway on its Tembo-1 exploration well on the Rovuma onshore concession in northern Mozambique.

The company said drilling has reached a depth of around 2,965 metres. The well is programmed to be drilled to the Jurassic stratum at a total depth of 4,397 metres.

Drilling operations are expected to continue through the month of November, but Wentworth cautioned that, as this is afrontier well, it is difficult to predict how long drilling operations will take.

Tullow Oil’s (LON:TLW) four-well drilling update from Kenya revealed mixed results, with appraisal successes offsetting tepid exploration findings.

The Kodos exploration well, in Block 10BB, had hydrocarbon shows which reveal the presence of an active petroleum system but the find was a disappointment in terms of reservoir quality. 

Whilst not the first well in Block 10BB it was the first prospect drilled in the Kerio basin, and as such it was deemed to be a ‘wildcat’ well (i.e. it was in untested territory). The rig will be mobilised north to the Epir location, which will be Tullow’s second well in the Kerio basin.

In the South Lokichar basin portion of 10BB, meanwhile, the Ekosowan-1 well encountered 900 metres of near continuous oil shows though they were found through an interval of tight faulted sands.

Ekosowan is the most southerly well location in the basin to date and is about 12 kilometres from Tullow’s Amosing discovery well. 

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