PTR - Petratherm Limited

[Truonga]

Hello Guys and girls,

I'm another newbi here. I'm fair new to the whole stock market.
But anyway, i've got my eye on this company and don't know too much about them.

Just wondering if there is anyone out there have any info on this company, as there is not allot posted up, about this company.

Cheers.

Truonga

 

[Sean K]

Re: PTR- PETRATHERM LTD FPO

First place to start is by googling their name to find their website, where you normally find all the information you need.

http://www.petratherm.com.au/

Hot rocks. One of the 'flavours of the month'. A Spanish mob just took a big stake in them which explains the sudden spike in the sp. Obviously that news was kept well secret! LOL.

Not sure if this leap in the sp is sustainable. Will need to consolidate at some point.

 

[aosleung]

Kennas is right, whatever you decide to invest in, you should do your own research and whenever you’re unsure about what you read, it may be helpful to write your queries here to see if anyone else can provide some clues.

What is geothermal energy? In simplistic terms, I believe it’s the recycle of hot water to generate steam to turn a turbine which generates electricity. I'm not an expert in this area but it sounds easy said than done!
• The requirement is to find heated granites beneath the "3 kms" of sediments.
• Water is pumped down a borehole into a hot rock source (200 °C and 280 °Water flows through a network of tiny fractures (either naturally occurring and/or by hydraulic stimulation of the natural system) and is rapidly heated to a high temperature by contact with the hot rock.
• Under pressure the heated water then returns to the surface via a production well located several hundred metres away from the original injection well.
• At the surface the superheated water is passed through a heat exchanger where most of the heat is extracted.
• The heat extracted from the water in turn heats a low boiling-point liquid, which boils, producing high-pressure steam used to drive electricity turbines.
• The surface heat exchanger is another closed-loop fluid system.
• The cooled water is then re-injected back down the injection borehole to be reheated and used again.

Hot rocks does look like the ‘flavour of the month’ but the spike in PTR’s share price appears to be driven by political news flow (whereby opposition leader Kevin Rudd's promise to give $50 million to the geothermal sector if elected) rather than the Spanish group’s stake which was only 1% (750,000) as part of the recent share placement. Reason is simply because a number of other geothermal stocks (GDR, TEY, GHT, and GRK) all shot up in June 2007. Coincidence? I think not!

However, it is once again speculation that renewable energy will be the next hot investment to chase, given the media attention to global warming and the upcoming Federal election. The good thing about Geothermal is that it can provide base load power and probably cheap to run. Apart from nuclear power (which has it's dangers) other forms of renewable energy can only provide intermittent energy. But Geothermal may have the risk of earthquakes as a result of fracturing the granites with high pressure water deep beneath the surface. This means that it will most likely be built somewhere far away from the city which means that it will be costly to connect to the grid to provide electricity. So, the commercialisation of a geothermal project is a very important step to ensure it is economically viable!

The last time I mentioned the word "speculation", a friend here known as "Resourceboom" said that investing in any company involves some degree of speculation on its future, obviously there is higher risk in companies not yet making money.

This is very true. So let's take a look at PTR. It is not making any money and currently has a loss at $2.1m in retained earnings. PTR looks likely to become Australia’s first commercial geothermal producer with a plan for 7.5MW of power in SA by the end of 2009. Subsequently, to 30MW and then a ramp up to 500 MW of base-load power over several years at a cost of ~$1bn (i.e. it will cost $2m per MW).

By the end of 2009 means 2-3 years from now and 500MW is therefore 10 years from now. Some brokers have valued GDY at $1m per MW and this means the 7.5MW is only worth $7.5m and include all the cash ($2.6m @ Mar Qtr + $6.3m from recent placement + $5m government grant + $30m JV), that is only 2/3 of the market capitalisation of the company (of $68m). So we are speculating on (1) success of the 7.5MW leading onto subsequent expansion to 500MW by 2015 (8 years from now). Also, the China, Spanish and European projects but no information on size of project has been published as yet.

Agree with Kennas that it is uncertain whether this leap in the share price is sustainable and eventually it will reach a saturation point but who knows where that point is at this stage. It all depends on the hype and "speculation" there is for PTR and that goes for all other geothermal stocks.

Having said that, there are 19 exploration companies (and apparently more expected to join) according to BRW and PTR ($1.17 and market cap of $68m) and GDY ($1.58 and market cap of $275m) appears to be the 2 leading companies. The deciding factor is who will get there first and whether PTR have the strong management and team to take it to commercialisation and reward shareholders that stuck around today.

Good management is a huge factor which is evident by GDY's share price fall in 2006 from $1.60 (Apr 06) to $0.60 (Aug 06) as a result of the resignation of founding director and MD.

If I were to invest in PTR, I would probably aim to hold them long term and not invest as much given the risks involved. Then keep a close eye on Paralana project (I think the technology is still to be proven in Australia) and monitor their spending, equity raisings (to avoid any dilution) and any management changes.

This is purely my opinion and I am not a financial adviser and cannot provide you with financial advice.

Good luck investing!

 

[gfresh]

Has retraced back to previous resistance level of $0.90

Pontential buy at $0.90 ? worth a look anyhow..

 

[aosleung]

Thanks for publishing the chart!

Yes, I think PTR is definitely worth a look now given the election is coming up and I believe there will be a presentation on 1-2nd August at the 3rd annual Hot Rocks conference. This may provide some short term interest as mentioned by brokers.

The good thing about PTR is that it has one of the more advanced technology (compared to GDY) and geothermal is the only viable alternative to baseload electricity other than nuclear.

The recent fall in share price is obviously market driven given the lack of news from the company which may be a good buying opportunity. Truonga, maybe you could consider buying some now?

 

[Trop Beaucoup]

Trading Halt - hopefully sth interesting - useful "green energy" play thats been knocked back with everything else but has made promising headway fundamentals wise

 

[kingbrown]

Any one following PTR these days ??
I have held it in the past and did quite well out of it

I do not own it as i considered it too specy in this downturn

I have watched it fall all the way down to the 20's with no volume
I guess no ones selling at these prices offered ?
I notice that National Nominees have bought a fair slab of PTR in a
Ethical trust fund
announced today

Any one done any research lately to see if these guys are still viable ??

I guess National Nominees would have done some research before buying 7%
of the company

Any comments would be helpfull
Looking at buying but only at a real bargain price

closed today at .28 with very little traded

 

[Ludwik]

Geothermal is promising - agreed.

The future of this mob is uncertain on some criteria, given that much of the hype is around clean and sustainable energy - the latest news is not good, meaning ethical investors may run for the hills real fast.

Planned transmission lines across Flinders Ranges adding risk of regional backlash and tainting the green image of geothermal - and wasteful exp on grid when not required.

Seeming intent re above to power Olympic Dam and Beverley Uranium Mines - what the out the window go the green and clean credentials

Test site at Paralana (help me out geologists) - would'nt drilling into a major fault line be somewhat risky in terms of damaging the geology and destabilising an area in close proximity to an aboriginal sacred hot springs ? ethical credentials out the window again.

Petrotherm may throwing the geothermal baby out with the bath water on this if they dont play their cards right - so far the scorecard is not looking good, while the fundamentals are promising it appears they are wading deeper into murkier waters.

 

[kingbrown]

Volumes have started to pick up on this stock up 17% yesterday on turnover

Any usefull comments out there ?


AEPTR) Petratherm 'Uniquely Positioned for Success'
Sunday, May 03, 2009 9:51 PM

(Source: AAP Finance News Wire)(AEPTR) PETRATHERM 'UNIQ
Sydney - Monday - May 4: (RWE Australian Business News) - Petratherm Ltd (ASXTR) managing director Mr Terry Kallis will present an update on the company's activities to the first day of Paydirt's 2009 South Australian Resources & Energy Investment Conference in Adelaide later this morning.

The overall message of the presentation is that the company is uniquely positioned for success in the geothermal energy sector in Australia and Spain.

The address to the investment conference, entitled 'Building a Portfolio of Quality Geothermal Energy Projects - Australia and Overseas', outlines Petratherm's leadership in the geothermal energy sector.

Key points from the presentation:

* The Paralana Geothermal Energy Project is on schedule to spud- in the Paralana 2, 4km-deep well in six weeks - mid-June.

* The Paralana project has received further endorsement and recognition, with its success in gaining a $7m Geothermal Drilling Program (GDP) funding offer, with funds expected prior to the spud- in of Paralana 2.

* HEWI 'Proof of Concept' for Paralana is planned to be achieved during first half of 2010 and first power in late 2010.

* Paralana JV has applied under the $435m renewable energy demonstration program for one-third funding for a $200m, 30 MW project.

* Geo-Madrid 8 MW district heating project is in the advanced stages of its feasibility assessment - has attracted JV interest from large European energy utility - Dalkia.

* Strong government support for renewable energy and the geothermal sector continues, with last week's COAG plans to increase to the renewable energy certificate (post-tax) penalty from $40/MWh to $65/MWh and extending the period to 2030 - enabling greater certainty and improved NPV for geothermal project investment.

ENDS

04-05 1050

(c) 2009 AAP Finance News Wire.

link here
http://www.istockanalyst.com/article/viewiStockNews/articleid/3215784#

 

[kingbrown]

Geothermal projects win funding
Article from:
CAMERON ENGLAND
April 21, 2009 11:30pm

TWO South Australian geothermal energy projects have won $7 million each in Federal Government funding.

Petratherm and its joint venture partners Beach Petroleum and TRUenergy received $7 million for their Paralana project in the northern Flinders Ranges.

Panax Geothermal plans to spend its $7 million drilling for a geothermal heat resource near Penola, in the state's South-East.

Federal Energy Minister Martin Ferguson said yesterday geothermal energy had extraordinary potential and could provide baseload power.

"Geoscience Australia estimates that if just one per cent of our geothermal energy was extracted it would equate to 26,000 times Australia's total annual energy consumption,'' he said.

"In addition to being a low-carbon energy source, geothermal energy also has the potential to add baseload power to the Australian energy grid.

"This would diversify Australia's energy supply and add to our overall energy security.''

Mr Ferguson said a second round of applications for funding would open around the middle of the year. The money comes from the Government's $500 million renewable energy fund.

http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,25370943-5016955,00.html#

 

[kingbrown]

dipped my little toe in @ 38

Now sp 43 odd

Note trading holt today and looks like a cap raise coming in

Hopefully i get a reasonable discount

Love talking to myself on this thread echo echo echo !

 

[kingbrown]

Australia's Geothermal Energy Rush With Six Companies Reporting Massive Energy Reserves And Govt. A$4.5Bn Clean Energy Initiative


Australia's Geothermal Energy Rush

Melbourne, June 5, 2009 (ABN Newswire) - In the face of the current economic downturn, the Australian geothermal industry has experienced significant growth in the number of companies that have joined the search for "Hot-Rock Energy", fuelled by the rapidly increasing demand for renewable energy. In the nine months since the Australian geothermal industry launched the world's first Geothermal Reporting Code, six companies have reported massive geothermal energy reserves. In addition, earlier this week, the South Australian gold explorer Southern Gold (ASX:SAU) added to the tally with a significant resource at it's Torrens Geothermal Project in South Australia, and Hot Rock Limited (ASX:HRL) is expected to release its maiden resource in coming months.

In the May 2009 federal budget, the government announced a A$4.5 billion Clean Energy Initiative which involves investing heavily into renewable energy sources with the objective of reducing carbon emissions. Putting the politics of an emissions trading scheme aside, Australia remains the world's biggest carbon polluter on a per capita basis, contributing almost 1.5% of the world's total carbon emissions.

Geothermal energy is considered an ideal renewable energy, for its potentially attractive production costs over other renewable sources and because it is the only major renewable energy source that is capable of providing baseload power - that is non-stop power, 24 hours a day, rain, hail or shine.

Recently, Resource Minister Martin Ferguson told Reuters:

"Geothermal energy which is sometimes known as hot rocks has got a huge potential for Australia, both as a solution to climate change and in terms of national energy security."

Huge potential maybe, but how much energy are these hot rock explorers targeting? Well, according to Geoscience Australia's Anthony Budd, "One percent of reserves would produce 26,000 years of energy supplies". The actual Geoscience Australia report by Budd, Holgate, Gerner & Ayling goes on to say, "future drilling and extraction technologies will undoubtebly allow extraction of heat at depths greater than 5 km, meaning that the above figure is conservative".

Although there are about 50 geothermal exploration licence holders across Australia which have collectively committed to spending in excess of $1 billion on geothermal exploration and development, only 8 companies have declared geothermal resources since the launch of the Geothermal Code in August last year.

The reporting of geothermal resources in Australia needs to be compliant with the Australian Code for Reporting of Exploration Results, Geothermal Resources and Geothermal Reserves (2008 Edition), which outlines the methods for geothermal energy classification. The broadest category of energy is referred to as inferred resource, and the classifications of indicated, measured, probable and proven are used in cases of increasing geological and economic certainty.

Australian Geothermal Resources
----------------------------------------------------------
ASX Company Project Geothermal Category*
Code Resource*(PJ)
----------------------------------------------------------
GDY Geodynamics Innamincka &
Ltd Hunter Valley 244,680 various
GER Greenearth Geelong &
Energy Ltd Gippsland 263,600 inferred

GRK Green Rock Olympic
Energy Dam Region 120,000 inferred

PAX Panax Limestone
Geothermal Ltd Coast 332,000 various

PTR Petratherm Ltd Paralana 230,000 inferred

TEY Torrens Energy Parachilna 780,000 inferred

SAU Southern Torrens TBA - 1st
Gold Ltd Geothermal week June'09
Project inferred

HRL Hot Rock Ltd Penola Trough Undisclosed various


http://www.pir.sa.gov.au/geothermal/ageg/geothermal_reporting_code

The geothermal energy resource estimates reported by this handful of predominantly South Australia focussed companies is simply mind-blowing. Between them, they have identified in excess of 2 million Petajoules of geothermal energy. Not all the geothermal energy identified will be recoverable due to complex geology, economics and the temperatures of source rocks. Geologists put the economically recoverable proportion of the heat at 15-20%. The energy expected to be recoverable is still massive. To put it into context, 1 Petajoule of recovered thermal energy is equivalent to 172,000 barrels of oil.

The magnitude of Australia's geothermal resources is expected to increase significantly in coming months, with numerous projects progressing with drill rigs and geophysical data acquisition. Assuming only 20% of the 2 million Petajoules of discovered geothermal energy is recoverable, that equals 400,000 Petajoules - one-thousand times Australia's total projected residential energy consumption for 2009!

"In the last 9-months, a handful of Australian Geothermal companies have discovered significant geothermal resources potentially sufficient to provide all of Australia's residential energy requirements for a thousand years."

With massive energy resources in place, it's no surprise the geothermal sector has attracted Australian energy majors including Origin Energy (ASX:ORG), AGL Energy (ASX:AGK), Stuart Petroleum (ASX:STU) and Beach Petroleum (ASX:BPT). Offshore investors include the Asian parent company of Australian electricity retailer TruEnergy (CLP Group) and India's largest power company, Tata Power.

Despite, the increasing interest in the geothermal sector the industry has not been immune to the widespread deterioration in capital markets. A benchmark used to measure the performance of the stockmarket listed geothermal companies, The Australian Geothermal IndexTM, has fallen 39% since the start of July last year.

more on this link
http://www.abnnewswire.net/press/en...s_And_Govt_A45Bn_Clean_Energy_Initiative.html

 

[Smurf1976]

Planned transmission lines across Flinders Ranges adding risk of regional backlash and tainting the green image of geothermal - and wasteful exp on grid when not required.

"Not required", "wasteful"...

The same old arguments so-called "environmentalists" have used against practically every large scale non-fossil fuel power scheme proposed in Australia for more than three decades.

There's nothing wrong with transmission lines apart from aesthetics. And anyone worried about aesthetics can't seriously believe that climate change etc is a real threat.

Sorry for the thread hijack, but this is a very real issue for anyone proposing large scale non-fossil power generation. Despite all the words about CO2 this, Kyoto that and Climate something else, there will almost certainly be massive opposition to anything that threatens to provide a solution. That's the very entrenched track record and it doesn't seem to have changed.

As for the actual technology, well at $2 million per MW it certainly sounds viable to me assuming the ongoing costs once built are reasonably low (which they ought to be - in a technical sense it's basically a coal-fired plant without the need for coal so it ought not cost much to maintain).

 

[whereu]

I wait with bated breath for Geodynamics (GDY) to sort out technical problems that appear to be holding up the progress of a pilot plant. I find it difficult to assess the risks of "hot rock" investments so I'm hoping that if GDY succeeds it means others may be able to follow.

No advice intended, just a point of view.

Kennas is right, whatever you decide to invest in, you should do your own research and whenever you’re unsure about what you read, it may be helpful to write your queries here to see if anyone else can provide some clues.

What is geothermal energy? In simplistic terms, I believe it’s the recycle of hot water to generate steam to turn a turbine which generates electricity. I'm not an expert in this area but it sounds easy said than done!
• The requirement is to find heated granites beneath the "3 kms" of sediments.
• Water is pumped down a borehole into a hot rock source (200 °C and 280 °Water flows through a network of tiny fractures (either naturally occurring and/or by hydraulic stimulation of the natural system) and is rapidly heated to a high temperature by contact with the hot rock.
• Under pressure the heated water then returns to the surface via a production well located several hundred metres away from the original injection well.
• At the surface the superheated water is passed through a heat exchanger where most of the heat is extracted.
• The heat extracted from the water in turn heats a low boiling-point liquid, which boils, producing high-pressure steam used to drive electricity turbines.
• The surface heat exchanger is another closed-loop fluid system.
• The cooled water is then re-injected back down the injection borehole to be reheated and used again.

Hot rocks does look like the ‘flavour of the month’ but the spike in PTR’s share price appears to be driven by political news flow (whereby opposition leader Kevin Rudd's promise to give $50 million to the geothermal sector if elected) rather than the Spanish group’s stake which was only 1% (750,000) as part of the recent share placement. Reason is simply because a number of other geothermal stocks (GDR, TEY, GHT, and GRK) all shot up in June 2007. Coincidence? I think not!

However, it is once again speculation that renewable energy will be the next hot investment to chase, given the media attention to global warming and the upcoming Federal election. The good thing about Geothermal is that it can provide base load power and probably cheap to run. Apart from nuclear power (which has it's dangers) other forms of renewable energy can only provide intermittent energy. But Geothermal may have the risk of earthquakes as a result of fracturing the granites with high pressure water deep beneath the surface. This means that it will most likely be built somewhere far away from the city which means that it will be costly to connect to the grid to provide electricity. So, the commercialisation of a geothermal project is a very important step to ensure it is economically viable!

The last time I mentioned the word "speculation", a friend here known as "Resourceboom" said that investing in any company involves some degree of speculation on its future, obviously there is higher risk in companies not yet making money.

This is very true. So let's take a look at PTR. It is not making any money and currently has a loss at $2.1m in retained earnings. PTR looks likely to become Australia’s first commercial geothermal producer with a plan for 7.5MW of power in SA by the end of 2009. Subsequently, to 30MW and then a ramp up to 500 MW of base-load power over several years at a cost of ~$1bn (i.e. it will cost $2m per MW).

By the end of 2009 means 2-3 years from now and 500MW is therefore 10 years from now. Some brokers have valued GDY at $1m per MW and this means the 7.5MW is only worth $7.5m and include all the cash ($2.6m @ Mar Qtr + $6.3m from recent placement + $5m government grant + $30m JV), that is only 2/3 of the market capitalisation of the company (of $68m). So we are speculating on (1) success of the 7.5MW leading onto subsequent expansion to 500MW by 2015 (8 years from now). Also, the China, Spanish and European projects but no information on size of project has been published as yet.

Agree with Kennas that it is uncertain whether this leap in the share price is sustainable and eventually it will reach a saturation point but who knows where that point is at this stage. It all depends on the hype and "speculation" there is for PTR and that goes for all other geothermal stocks.

Having said that, there are 19 exploration companies (and apparently more expected to join) according to BRW and PTR ($1.17 and market cap of $68m) and GDY ($1.58 and market cap of $275m) appears to be the 2 leading companies. The deciding factor is who will get there first and whether PTR have the strong management and team to take it to commercialisation and reward shareholders that stuck around today.

Good management is a huge factor which is evident by GDY's share price fall in 2006 from $1.60 (Apr 06) to $0.60 (Aug 06) as a result of the resignation of founding director and MD.

If I were to invest in PTR, I would probably aim to hold them long term and not invest as much given the risks involved. Then keep a close eye on Paralana project (I think the technology is still to be proven in Australia) and monitor their spending, equity raisings (to avoid any dilution) and any management changes.

This is purely my opinion and I am not a financial adviser and cannot provide you with financial advice.

Good luck investing!

 

[joea]

This has a bit of volume activity.
Cheers

 

[Trader Paul]

Hi folks,

PTR ... looking for a couple of positive time cycles
to give this one a lift, this week .....

..... updated PTR chart attached, below.

have a great day

paul



=====

 

[burglar]

... looking for a couple of positive time cycles
to give this one a lift, ...

Hi paul,

Have just had "geothermal" pop into my head for no apparent reason!


10 year chart:



3 month chart:


Might be worth a punt!

 

[So_Cynical]

Hi paul,

Have just had "geothermal" pop into my head for no apparent reason!


10 year chart:
View attachment 51000


3 month chart:
View attachment 51001

Might be worth a punt!

Based on what?

Because the price has gone up?

 

[burglar]

Based on what?

Because the price has gone up?

Because it's an election year?

 

[burglar]

Based on what?

Because the price has gone up?

Date......................... Detail........................................ Debit ($)..Credit ($)
30/11/2007................S 2000 PTR @ 1.060000.............................2,102.01
20/11/2007................B 2000 PTR @ 0.898000..............1,813.99

That's 13.7% up, net of brokerage in 10 days.

Due entirely to lil Johnny Howard offering millions in grants to renewables.

But that was then, this is now!
Is it an opportunity now.
I don't know ... perhaps, maybe.

But I do get your point.
Remiss of me to not catch it on the way down?????