Nov. 16
Shares in Tullow Oil (LON:TLW) were higher in early deals after what Morgan Stanley called a re-assuring update.
The broker pointed to upcoming drill results as offering a real and significant near-term kicker to the share price.
In all there are four wells underway, including the eagerly anticipated Zaedyus Deep, which has major implications for Northern Petroleum (LON:NOP) and Wessex Exploration (LON:WSX), which have a combined 2.5 per cent.
Morgan Stanley reckons the Guiana project is worth an additional 96 pence on the Tullow share price.
Overall value from the current drilling campaign is worth over 15 per cent of the current share price, it added.
Significantly, Tullow is reviewing offers for its Asia business unit, which could also unlock value and has implications as the explorer moves forward.
“While relatively small, we think more significant and greater value disposals are conceivable as management has discussed focussing on assets where it can add significant value via the drill bit,” Morgan Stanley said in a note to clients.
It remains ‘overweight’ on the stock, which it reckons is worth 1,780 pence a share.
At 10am the stock was changing hands for 1,391 pence, up 6 pence on the day.
Earlier, Tullow said its financial performance was in line with City forecasts and it remains on target to deliver average net production of 80,000 to 84,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) for the full year.
The group’s interim management statement covering the second half of the year said operational and financial performance has remained strong.
In Ghana, the production capacity of the Jubilee field has been ramped up and is expected to exceed 90,000 bopd (gross) by the end of the year, while in Kenya, the second exploration well in the Lockichar Basin has successfully encountered oil, which has further de-risked the exploration prospec
ts in the basin. Additional exploration drilling and testing results across Tullow’s Kenyan and Ehtiopian assets are expected before the end of the year.
Forecast capital expenditure for 2012 remains in the region of $2.0bn. As of October 31st, net debt is around $0.9bn and unused debt capacity is in the region of $2.2 billion.
“Growing production and cash flow from the Jubilee field continues to strengthen Tullow’s financial base as we look forward to further significant exploration and development programmes in 2013,” the group said.
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