Thursday's oil and gas news: Petro Matad hails Mongolian opportunity

Seven oil and gas companies, including Petro Matad, Circle Oil and Sound Oil, updated investors on Thursday. Read our round-up...

Petro Matad issues Mongolia update

Petro Matad (MATD) on Thursday stressed that the three production sharing contract licences it holds in Mongolia represent "a significant frontier exploration opportunity" as it provided investors with an operational update.

In blocks IV and V, the prolific Junggar, Turpan and Erlian basins have been identified as structural and depositional analogues. In-house basin modelling has been carried out to document source rock maturation and hydrocarbon generation. This work has resulted in an additional petroleum system being postulated for blocks IV and V to complement those already established.

The prospectivity of Block XX has been re-evaluated based on reinterpretation of existing seismic data and previous exploration results. Mapping of Petro Matad seismic data in Block XX and public domain data in Block XIX showed the structural trends that comprise the Tolson Uul oil fields in Block XIX extending into the north-western part of Block XX.

Petro Matad explained that the next steps were to conduct regional and detailed seismic in 2013 to confirm these leads as drillable prospects and to identify other independent leads that it said undoubtedly exist within these large basin areas. Short-term (two year) and long-term (five year) work programmes have been established for this purpose, with the hope of drilling four to six exploration wells in 2014, with a further two or three wells in each of the following three years.

Providence Resources hails "landmark" 2012

Providence Resources (PVR) has called 2012 a "landmark year" as operations on the first well in its multi-well, multi-year drilling programme offshore Ireland were successfully completed.

The first of six wells in this programme was successfully drilled and subsequently tested in March 2012 at the Barryroe oilfield in the Celtic Sea Basin.

Plans are in place for three further wells to be drilled in 2013 at Spanish Point and Dunquin, with the potential to open up Ireland's Atlantic margin, and in the Kish Bank Basin. A further two wells are planned for 2014, in the Rathlin Basin and at Dragon in the St. George's Channel Basin.

Plexus Holdings signs Total as a consulting partner

French oil and gas operator Total (TTA) has signed up as an additional consulting partner to Plexus Holdings' (POS) joint industry project (JIP) to develop and commercialise a new and safer subsea wellhead, utilising Plexus's patented POS-GRIP technology.

The JIP is focused on developing a new subsea wellhead, HGSS, to address key technical issues and requirements highlighted by regulators following the Gulf of Mexico disaster in April 2010. All members of the JIP have been contributing to the design and engineering process and attending regular meetings, and it is Plexus's goal that they will become end users once the wellhead has been fully built, tested and commercialised. All intellectual property generated by the JIP will be owned by Plexus, and will be added to the company's extensive and unchallenged POS-GRIP patent suite.

Circle Oil agrees $12.5m working facility

Circle Oil (COP) has agreed a $12.5 million (

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