Re: FAR - First Australian Resources
With the NAPE oil conference kicking off next week, it is likely to kick off an extrememly exciting time for FAR and its shareholders.
Armed with a warchest of 3D seismic data FAR will be one of the real movers and shakers at this years conference, it is very rare for a company of FAR's size to be able to hold such attention on the world stage, but as has been revealed in the recent 3D seismic data from Senegal, FAR and its partners are likely to be sitting on targets of over 3 billion barrels of oil in place (OIP) or over 1 billion barrels of recoverable oil (see recent Hartley's research to confirm target sizes)
http://www.far.com.au/files/research/Hartleys research_25 Jan_Senegal.pdf
In terms of the size of targets the HUNT/FAR is likely to be one of largest if not the largest available for farm in at this year conference, putting HUNT/FAR in a very strong bargaining position.
It is also important to remember not only will the world's oil major's be attending but all the top oil/gas analysts will also be there, so expect to see some institutional action in FAR shareprice as the world starts to come to grips with the potential of FAR going forward.
Below is a grab from a recent article highlighting the value of FAR's 30% stake in Senegal
Unprecedented Interest in West Africa
With the major oil companies searching the globe for areas with potential for huge oil fields, under explored West Africa has captured their attention. West Africa continues to be viewed by the industry as one of the few regions outside the Middle East capable of hosting big enough hydrocarbon reservoirs to attract the major oil companies. As illustrated in Figure 1, there are a number of majors that surround FAR�s acreage including Woodside Petroleum Limited, Dana Petroleum Plc, Tullow Plc and Edison International. FAR is the only junior ASX listed company along the Mauritania-Senegal-Guinea Bissau offshore trend.
Recent activity in West Africa by some of the majors include:
* Edison completed a 1,500km² 3D seismic survey in the Rufisque Deep Offshore block to the north.
* Kuwait Foreign Exploration Co recently purchased BG Group PLC�s interests in Mauritania for $128 million.
* A recent auction of acreage in the Congo Basin, offshore Angola, for three deepwater exploration tracts saw international oil companies bid in excess of US$3.1b in signature bonuses alone. This amount is reportedly the highest ever offered for exploration anywhere in the world.
* Gaz de France has recently agreed to study the feasibility of an LNG project based on deepwater gas discoveries in nearby Mauritania.
It's incredible to imagine a company the size of FAR playing in the same arena as the worlds major's such as Shell,CNOOC,Exxon Mobil,BP and the like, but that is exactly what they have on their hands in regards Senegal a world class prospect.
Check out page 14 of FAR's Upstream Energy presentation to get an idea of the location and quality of their prospects.
http://www.far.com.au/files/asxannounce/Elodge ID458580 23May07 - Upstream Energy 2007.pdf
Next week is a huge step for FAR and as speculation mounts as to who they manage to attract to farmin to the Senegal acreage, expect to see some substantial shareprice upside.