The company previously held acreage in Ireland and Australia but recently gave up on those areas to focus efforts on deposits in the United Kingdom North Sea and Colombia. Colombia currently shows the most potential for development. In Colombia, The Las Quinchas block contains an estimated 5-10 million barrels of recoverable oil. Testing in the Acacia Este exploration prospect has indicated that long-term production could potentially produce 40 barrels of heavy oil a day. In the UK North Sea, Woburn Energy holds a 15% stake in a hydrocarbon-rich gas field in Monterey. This field contains an estimated 165 billion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas and is undeveloped as of yet.

The board of directors is made up of 6 members. Kamran Ahmed, Rustom Bejon Kanga, Hasan Hashwani, Anthony Brian Baldry and Arif Kemal are non-executive directors. The executive managing director is Dr. John Malcolm Cubitt. Dr. Cubitt has over 27 years experience in the natural resources exploration industry and is a registered Chartered Geologist. He has both a BS and a PhD in geology.

Fundamentally, the company’s interest in various wells coupled with the fact that it has already raised the capital needed to fund its current-year drilling is encouraging. The strategic locations of the wells – from offshore in Mozambique to Rovuma and Mnazi Bay – places them is well-diversified and potential critical areas. The strategic partnerships the company has developed, primarily with Anadarko, provides further evidence that COV is positioned to succeed. Lastly, the experience of the two top executives, one from Shell and one from Petrocelic international, are key. The pressures facing speculative plays like this require the skill of a stable hand at the helm.

Technically, the recent spike drove the stock into a severally overbought condition, but this has eased. What is particularly encouraging is that the stock was able to correct this condition without a massive sell-off in the stock. After spiking above 40, the shares have eased to 38. The corresponding decline in overbought readings has been more significant. Essentially the stock is well positioned to build on its own momentum and run significantly higher with the right catalyst. The stock is still significantly above its 50-day moving average, so potentially buyers should watch this relationship. Any close significantly below this moving average should be perceived as negative.

In general, the story supporting this stock, coupled with fundamental and technical factors, make it an attractive speculative bet with a solid risk to return profile.

I spotted this in the news and it hit a spot.

uk.reuters article

This company, 4 months or so ago, were dropping like a stone as they were not achiving the drill speed they had expected.  The suspicious investor could think that it was a sign they were up against the wall, and were unlikely to hit gas at any time in the future.  (Or at least while their funds were still available).

It seems (and I can only say in retrospect) that they have hit gas, and so the business can grow some more.  There are some interesting comments on the LSE board if you use it.

If anyone has any other companies like this, it would be good to hear.

John Mulligan speaks about the health of the world’s stock markets and investor’s appetite for equities across these markets since the on set of the economic downturn. Since the credit crisis, the markets have been starved by unscrupulous companies who have required vast amounts of capital to save them from bankruptcy.

He also speaks about how the onset of the economic crisis has starved the IPO markets. What he is debating is whether the health of these markets is improving. I agree with him in his assessment that the markets have slightly recovered. This improvement of the stock markets across the globe is obvious through the fact that activity has significantly picked up through 28 new listings raising over $400 billion in investment capital throughout the second quarter of 2009.

On a global level, the pace of initial public offerings have picked up substantially over the two quarters. Forty-nine successful IPOs have raised some $34 billion compared from just four IPOs raising barely $1 billion a year ago.

In the world market, there is a substantial increase in activity. It is absolutely vital that equity finance begin to flow again in order to fund the companies that power economic growth. We see signs that the markets are recovering.

So Got pick some nice Penny Shares that will ride the next wave!

The first of these two buys is Daejan, a commercial property operator. It is thought to be a good buy for a number of reasons, most of which have to do with the people who run it. One of the things that Paton likes to focus on is the leadership of a company. It is a good indicator of a company’s chance at future success because the people who make decisions need to be smart, experienced, and savvy in order to give the company a chance at prolonged success. For the Daejan, the company’s leadership is top notch.

Another thing that Paton likes to take a look at is the public perception of a company. In order to find value, a company needs not only good leadership and a solid business plan, but they need to be flying under the radar a little bit, too. As it stands, the company is one of the least known big companies in the world, and this is a positive for its value at this point in time.

What we see in Paton’s opinion is that he likes companies who provide both a necessary and specialized service. In this case, it’s an insurance company that works with small businesses of all types. The company is Abbey Protection, and they provide small business owners with insurance against unexpected legal expenses. Again, this company provides solid leadership backbone to guide it in difficult financial times. The real kicker here is the service that Abbey Protection offers, though. Paton is right on the ball in terms of analysis on this company, as it should be a good bet to grow in the near future.

Richard Beddard takes his experiment in the Thrifty 30  and makes investing fun and practical for the masses. Beddard has set out to pick a portfolio of cheap stocks that can be purchased in small amounts – in this case, 30 shares at a time. He clearly lays out his criteria for choosing the stocks, but just as clearly states that it is up to the participants to do their own research. “Cheap, safe companies” is more or less the gospel of Beddard’s Thrifty 30. He tends to stick with established companies as opposed to upstarts that – though cheap – tend to be less stable. He offers clear and concise reasoning for the companies he chooses to add to the Thrifty 30 list, keeping his explanations to near sound-bite length. His reasoning and thought processes are easy to understand, though some may think he’s playing it too safe.
I think Beddard’s approach to investing is refreshing. At a time when many are thinking the best approach in these difficult financial times is to hide any extra cash in the mattress, Beddard inspires people to peak from beneath the covers and look anew at the opportunities investing can offer. The Thrifty 30, for many, is like learning to walk again. Beddard is moving us along in our investment journey, showing us the baby steps along the way.
Beddard’s blog is informative without carrying the air of musty stock reports adorned with endless, mind-numbing charts, graphs and over-analysis. Although he does include the occasional graph, Beddard explains things rather concisely. This experiment in thrifty stock purchases actually makes for refreshing and inspiring blog reading.