Life is like riding a bicycle.

To keep your balance, you must keep moving - Albert Einstein.

Tethys closes farm out deal, banks $63mln and delivers Kazakhstan work programme

It’s all go go go at Tethys as they finally get the green light on the Total/ CNPC Farm out deal.

The deal was officially signed in yesterday and came with some additional upside news in the forma of an extra $3mln in cash and an increased acreage which could prove very lucrative in the future.

The deal confirms Tethys as 33.3% interest holders with a part carry on the first $80mln spend (with just $9mln spend on working programme to contribute from TPL).

What is astonishing is that the other partners involved are super Majors ‘TOTAL’ and China’s National oil Corporation (CNOC). Each has an even 33.3% share. It’s unusual for the minnows to mix it with huge leaders in Oil&Gas like this, but it perhaps demonstrates how well connected TPL’s management are with the local regional leaders. Politics and relationships mean everything in these frontier regions. But when you look at the mouth watering potential of the Bokhtar PSC then you soon realise that the Majors are not here to make up the numbers – they are here to see some of the 27.5 billion barrels oil equivalent of gross unrisked mean recoverable prospective resources (according to independent figures) brought to market.

And little old Tethys is firmly in the mix. Terrific to see for a small company.

But that’s not all that TPL has to offer. There’s bags more. For starter there is the Kaza licences. These are by far the best near term cash flow generators. At present TPL is exporting around 4,500boepd. They intend to move this to 6,500 in the mid term and 12,500boepd longer term.

The current cash flow combined with the recent $63mln banked from the Total/CNOC deal ensures they have more than enough cash to see them through all ops planned for 2013 and keep plenty in reserve for 2014.

The Tajikistan deal is likely to proceed with some speed imho. The RNS stated that the work programme will be announced soon which could included some developments in 2013 such as Seimsics etc.

Today’s RNS covers off the Kaza plans which look jam packed over the next 6 months.

And if that’s not enough – there’s also the prospect of Uzbekistan. Yep – there’s more. The company is in the process of finalising plans on exploration with work set to begin on the Bayterek block in the North Ustyurt Basin of Northern Uzbekistan.

It’s go go go. And at 56p, the stock looks a long way from pricing the current Kaza production and Total/CNOC deal nevermind the recently acquired $63mln wedge of cash. Mr market has some waking up to do.

Tethys is part of the share hub’s 2013 Hotlist.

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June 19, 2013

Tethys Petroleum Limited: Kazakhstan Forward Work Programme

ALMATY, KAZAKHSTAN–(Marketwired – June 19, 2013) – Tethys Petroleum Limited (“Tethys”) (TSX:TPL)(LSE:TPL), the oil and gas exploration and production company focused on Central Asia, today announced its work programme in Kazakhstan for the second half of 2013.

Forward Work Programme:

=- AKD08 (“Doto”) Exploration well to spud in early August

=- Further oil exploration wells planned after Doto results

=- Testing programme on suspended oil wells

=- Two gas well workovers planned

=- Up to five new shallow gas wells to be drilled near the Akkulka Block

=- Kalypso well to be stimulated and tested in Q3

=- 2D Seismic planned and crew mobilising for the Kul-Bas Block

=- 3D Seismic planned for the near future in the Akkulka Block

=- Further seismic will help improve subsurface understanding in both Kul-

Bas and Akkulka to better focus the longer-term programme.

=- Aral Oil Terminal (“AOT”) expansion adds 12,500 barrels of storage

capacity

=- Total CAPEX for the programme estimated at approximately USD20.4 million

Dr. David Robson, Executive Chairman and President of Tethys, commented:

“The second half of the year will see us implement a busy and active programme in Kazakhstan. The combination of new exploration, testing of existing wells and workovers will move Tethys closer to exploiting the high potential of its gas and liquids portfolio, at a modest cost for shareholders. Further seismic will help us improve subsurface understanding in Kul-Bas and Akkulka to focus our longer-term programme as we continue to be excited by the upside and prospectivity of the area.”

Exploration

Oil

A location for The AKD08 (“Doto”) Exploration well has been finalized to the south-west of the producing Doris field and is designed to target both the Upper Jurassic Carbonate and Lower Cretaceous sandstone sequences as proven in Doris. The Doto prospect has 22 million barrels gross mean unrisked recoverable prospective oil resources attributed to it (Gustavson & Associates).

The well will be spudded in early August and is forecast to take approximately 45 days to drill to a planned total depth of 2,420 metres using Tethys’ own ZJ70 “Telesto” rig.

Following on from AKD08 the Company has plans to drill additional exploration targets in the Akkulka and Kul-Bas licences, further information on these targets will be provided in due course.

A number of progressive cavity pumps are being purchased to carry out a testing programme on several suspended oil wells. These pumps should enable definition of the ultimate potential of these wells which was not possible during the initial testing due to the lack of available lifting capacity at that time. These wells include AKD02, 03 and 07 and if successful these wells could be brought on production quickly.

Gas

Tethys has re-focused some of its investment into gas development after the effective doubling of the realised gas price in January of this year to US$65 from US$32.5 per 1,000 cubic metres. The new Kazakhstan-China gas trunkline under construction (planned to pass through Tethys’ contract areas) will provide an additional commercialization route and a further upside to the price.

It is planned to conduct workovers on the AKK05 and AKK14 wells in Q3 in order to boost gas production and short-term cash flow. These wells have successfully tested gas in the past but were not brought on stream due to the relatively low gas price at that time.

Commencing in Q4 up to five further shallow gas exploration wells are expected to be drilled on a number of additional prospects and leads which have been identified based on seismic data. These are relatively low risk targets and of the 13 shallow exploration wells previously drilled by Tethys in the Akkulka Block, 11 tested commercial gas.

The planned gas exploration wells are typically 600-800 meters measured depth and will take up to three weeks each to drill. Currently these are located mainly in the central and south-eastern part of the Akkulka Exploration Contract and relatively close to existing gas infrastructure.

Kul-Bas Block

The KBD01 (Kalypso) comprehensive testing programme initially on the Permo-Carboniferous interval will commence in Q3. The programme will involve initial perforation and potentially acidisation followed by fracture stimulation of the carbonate interval approximately 4,100 meters below the surface and will take up to one month to complete. Electric logs run over this section indicated more than 100 metres of gross potential hydrocarbon bearing zones in what is interpreted to be shelf limestones with hydrocarbon shows also being noted whilst drilling. The Kalypso Permo-Carboniferous is likely to be gas condensate bearing with 122 billion cubic feet (3.5 billion cubic metres) gross mean unrisked recoverable prospective resources attributed to it by Gustavson & Associates. Further potential lies in the Jurassic sands which showed indications of oil when drilling and on electric logs.

The two-year extension to the Kul-Bas Exploration and Production Contract area has now been successfully obtained by Tethys at the Ministry of Oil and Gas in Astana and as such the exploration phase of this contract will now run until November 11, 2015 assuming no further extensions are given.

Seismic

200 kilometres of 2D seismic is planned in Q3 over identified prospects in the south-west part of the Kul-Bas block, separate from Kalypso.

An additional seismic programme of 100 square kilometres of 3D data is planned over further prospects identified north west of the producing Doris wells and with similar Cretaceous reservoirs predicted. Furthermore an additional 35 kilometres of 2D data is planned for acquisition within the Akkulka block, but targeting additional areas of interest around the shallow producing Kyzyloi gas field. This activity is likely to follow the Kul-Bas seismic acquisition programme.

The total CAPEX for this program, with the drilling of two oil exploration wells, seismic, testing of KBD01, drilling of five shallow gas wells and workovers totals approximately USD20.4 million and is expected to take the rest of this year and into H1 2014.

Aral Oil Terminal

On June 6, 2013 Phase 2b of the Aral Oil Terminal (“AOT”) expansion was inspected by the State Commission of the Republic of Kazakhstan. The Phase 2b expansion consists primarily of an additional 12,500 barrels of crude oil storage capacity. This additional storage capability will greatly enhance the efficiency of oil transhipment through the terminal which has been suffering of late due to lack of storage associated with offtake issues from the terminal. These issues, although now solved, did affect the volumes of oil which were able to transit through the terminal. Furthermore, Phase 3 expansion of AOT, which will see the installation of an electrical dehydrator to significantly improve the quality of oil, will be undertaken when Phase 2b has been formally signed off. Phase 3 expansion is expected to be commissioned and operational in Q3 of this year.

Max Petroleum notches up another drilling success

Another great result for MXP shareholders as MXP continue to prove up their licence blocks with speed.

SAGW-4 was an appraisal well and the fourth to be drilled on the Sagiz West Field.

The purpose of these wells is to firm up the projected resource numbers of 79.8mmboe. This is clearly a sizable field and today’s success goes a long way to firming numbers to the higher side of the estimates.

The extension to the southern range of the field could potentially enhance numbers beyond their intial estimate. Further Seismics and data crunching will be required before they can be more confident of the full field potential.

Exciting times for MXP shareholders as the company continues to deliver on the approx 20 x drills in 2013.

News is coming almost weekly and with additional rigs being tendered – the pace of activity is increasing.

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18 June 2013, Max Petroleum Plc

Drilling Update

18 June 2013

Max Petroleum Plc, an oil and gas exploration and production company focused on Kazakhstan, is pleased to announce that the SAGW-4 appraisal well in the Sagiz West Field has reached a total vertical depth of 1,558 metres, with electric logs and pressure data from the well indicating 20 metres of net hydrocarbon pay over a 62 metre interval from 1,222 to 1,284 metres. Pay intervals include 16 metres of gas condensate and four metres of oil. In addition, there is a further 17 metres of potential oil pay with lower oil saturation than normally seen in productive reservoirs in the basin that is situated above the oil-water contact at 1,284 metres. Reservoir quality is good, with porosities ranging from 15% to 25%. Production casing is being run in the well and testing of all potentially productive intervals will begin as soon as regulatory approvals are received.

These results confirm that the Sagiz West Field extends four kilometres to the south of the existing productive well at SAGW-3. A multi-well appraisal drilling programme at the Sagiz West Field will resume following the integration of the results of SAGW-4 with the new seismic processing, which is expected to be completed later this summer. Further analysis of the well results and integration with the 3D seismic data will also enable a more detailed estimate of the size of the field. The Zhanros ZJ-30 rig will now move to the Zhana Makat Field to drill the ZMA-E3 and ZMA-A21 production wells.

The Company has also completed drilling the UTS-8 appraisal well in the Uytas Field on Block A. The well reached a total depth of 875 metres without encountering producible hydrocarbons and will be plugged and abandoned. This well was drilled to test the possibility of a westward extension of the field. The well is located beyond the mapped limits of the Uytas Field, and current estimates of contingent resources will not be affected by the results from this well.

The Zhanros ZJ-20 rig will now move on to drill the UTS-7 and UTS-9 appraisal wells in the Uytas Field, before returning to Block E. These are the first two wells of a 13 well appraisal programme planned to evaluate the contingent resource base in the field. The remaining appraisal wells will be drilled with an additional drilling rig that has been tendered for by the Company.

2013 Hotlist Results – Week 24

Week 24 of 2013

More head banging by the markets as they continue to spin around looking for catalysts to cling to for a sense of direction. It’s a puzzle why the market flaps when Japan gives off some gains. The Japanese index has performed like a rocket for the last 9 months so a return to earth should not be such a huge surprise. Back in August/Sept last year thessharehub highlighted the interesting correlation between the Fed QE3 free wonga and the Nikkei’s sudden awakening from a near 5 year slumber. UK, EU and US indices were slow to benefit from the QE3 cash flow. But the Nikkei wasn’t. The index practically doubled. Compare this to the rise in the DOW from circa 13k to 15k and you can soon see where the cash has been going. It’s not quite that simple of course, but there is no doubt that stimulus across the globe has resulted in some bonanza style trading in the Japanese market.

The DOW and other global indices soon followed as money washed its way across the financial world like a welcome tsunami. But like all tsunami’s – what floods in, floods out. And only when the water level has returned to normal is the picture of damage and devastation truly visible.

Markets are of course supposed to look ahead by 6 months+. But the last few years of uncertainties means that it no longer needs or wishes to look that far into the future and at present seems to work on a week by week basis.

Why forecast 6 months ahead when in 2 weeks time you could have another EU drama or US Economic data collapse. This is why it’s likely to be choppy out there. The market knows the wave is on the way out and the majority of those major players involved – are keen to avoid being washed out with the carnage.

But it’s a game of timing. All involved would prefer a ‘slow’ tapering or return to normal market stimulus measures – measures that are supported by growth data.

So near term – earnings season looks set to be the next catalyst to spur some market direction. Alcoa kicks off Q2 earnings on July 8th.

In the meantime the upcoming Fed Reserve meeting offers the bulk of the interest but as mentioned above – it’s a pretty pointless exercise in terms of guessing when tapering will begin. For many – it began a while ago. It’s inevitable and it’s going to happen. So market needs to get on with thinking about life without free pocket money from daddy and mummy.

The Dow closed week 24 down 178pts at 15070. The FTSE 100 lost 107pts to close the week at 6305.

A virtual portfolio has been set up using the 2012 final trading day close figures as a starting point and £1000 has been invested in each stock. This does not include buying fees or stamp duty and is purely intended to be used as a benchmark or summary for each week. One newspaper top ten picks for 2013 has been included to help monitor/compare against. A pi ‘polled’ top picks list (from LSE bulletin boards) has been included this year.

Week 24 stock picks summary:

It’s the 3rd week on the trot where there has been no significant news to discuss across the Hotlist and sharehub b-list. It’s not unusual to see quiet periods during the summer months but there is normally a snippet from time to time to chew on. The week ahead could get interesting at last as GKP release full year results. Investors will be interested in the cash burn numbers as funding doubts continue to hang around them with regard to the FDP on Shaikan licence block and their continued exploration/production plans. Serica and Tethy’s both have major news announcements that are long overdue. Both closed significant deals/projects with Super Majors in late 2012 but both have yet to finalise with signatures and receive the cash/agreements in final form. Tethy’s will be keen to wrap up their farm out soon as they keenly await the $60mln from CNPC and Total so they can get on with drilling targets in Kazakhstan.

Providence Resources is another one to watch as Dunquin well nears completion. Exxon must be close to TD on that well and the sector could really do with a major strike to get the juices flowing again.

Farm out news on Barryroe could also come sooner than some think especially if Dunquin comes in good.

With a bit of luck, we could have something company specific to write home about soon which doesn’t involve the Fed, EU or Japan.

As equities seesaw around the stock pick lists continue to see volatile movements. Positions are unchanged now for some many weeks as the trend of larger caps outperforming the smaller cap AIM resource stocks continues, albeit at a dwindling pace.

Current standings / Week 24 Results

1. The Independent 2013 +23.48% (weekly loss of 0.61%)
2. TheShareHub’s 2013 B-List +4.30% (weekly loss of 2.08%)
3. The LSE BB List 2013 -6.04% (weekly loss of 2.72%)
4. TheShareHub’s 2013 Hotlist -11.65% (weekly loss of 1.45%)

Click on Portfolio image to enlargeIndependent week 24 results sharehub b-list week 24 lse bb polled results week 24 hotlist results week 24

2013 Hotlist Results – Week 23

Week 23 of 2013

It was another great week for the fans of volatility – the DOW dropped like a stone from 15500 ranges to test 14800 while the FTSE dipped also looked rather sea sick losing 300pts at one point in the week. But the ship was steadied and astonishingly the DOW managed to dock for the week with a 132pt gain. The FTSE was not as convincing finishing the week down 169pts but significantly off the weeks lows.

So what’s got the markets so choppy and nervous. They are swinging around like kids on a fairground ride. Some suggest the concern is over how QE3 will be tapered or ‘ended’. The counter argument to that is that should the FED deem the US economy strong enough to operate on its own – minus the free pay day loans, then surely that’s a positive sign?

US jobs data on Friday was the catalyst for the markets bounce back as the numbers surprised many. But it also came at a time when perhaps Mr Market was ready for a bounce back anyway. The trend of ‘dithering’ lower during the early part of the week and then bouncing on thursday/friday news seems to have become a trend of late. It’s not unusual to see increased volatility during the slower summer months as volume moves prices easier and less resistance means sharper ups and downs.

It’s 9 to 10 weeks before markets properly return to work (mid Sept) and with QE3 the main event rumoured to be ending around then – someone really ought to take Mr Market aside and have a little ‘preparation’ talk.

In the meantime – Europe seems to have slipped off the radar. Mr market once obsessed with the movements of countries like Greece, Spain and Italy etc now seems quite happy to ignore the problems that continue to exist. Too much free QE3 pay day loans to spend to have the time to worry about that.

With Merkel up for elections in September – things could get choppy.

And if the market is about to go into volatility mode – it might be better for the pi to step aside and leave the Algo bots and high frequency traders to it. No one knows the size of hangover which will come once the QE3 party ends – but most expect a headache or two.

The Dow closed week 23 up 132 pts at 15248. The FTSE 100 lost a whopping 169pts to close the week at 6412.

A virtual portfolio has been set up using the 2012 final trading day close figures as a starting point and £1000 has been invested in each stock. This does not include buying fees or stamp duty and is purely intended to be used as a benchmark or summary for each week. One newspaper top ten picks for 2013 has been included to help monitor/compare against. A pi ‘polled’ top picks list (from LSE bulletin boards) has been included this year.

Week 23 stock picks summary:

The market’s volatility does many things but one thing is certain – it shakes up equities and cuts out the froth.

The independent’s stock picks still ride high but one has to think that those days are beginning to look numbered. Once as high as 39%+, a great performance after the previous years 59% gains – the list had a 3rd red week but still looks fruity with a 25%+ gain in the first 6 months of 2013.

The small caps picks continue to trade sideways in most cases. Notoriously volatile, many were trading like a mill pond in comparison to the Larger caps. Perhaps a sign of ‘wait and see’ or some indication that money may be moving from the fruity/frothy sectors to the beaten / discounted plays.

Times are changing – and the case for further upside across the larger caps is fast dwindling. It could be time to seek higher risk/ growth stocks as ROI’s become benign to negative.

Current standings / Week 23 Results

1. The Independent 2013 +25.09% (weekly loss of 7.25%)
2. TheShareHub’s 2013 B-List +6.38% (weekly loss of 1.93%)
3. The LSE BB List 2013 -3.32% (weekly gain of 0.59%)
4. TheShareHub’s 2013 Hotlist -10.20% (weekly loss of 1.83%)

Click on Portfolio image to enlargeIndependent week 23 sharehub b list week 23 LSE BB polled picks week 23 sharehub hotlist week 23

2013 Hotlist Results – Week 22

Week 22 of 2013

It’s a mystery when the market sponsored media outlets start citing fear and concern over the Nikkei’s recent drops. Sure ,-7% daily falls are not pretty but hang on a mo, lets just keep it in context. The Japanese index has almost doubled in just 8 months. Its moved from 8000 levels to testing 16k. Hence – if an index starts trading up abnormally, then of course it’s going to see corrections along the way. There’s not a financial mind on the street that expected the Nikkei to continue surging to high upon high with some kind of pullback. Yet here we are and the slightest sell off breeds the media panic button. But markets like volatility – it’s where the volume and money is. It’s like footfall traffic to the retail sector. So don’t be surprised if there’s not a few more ‘panic’ stories that emerge over the lazy summer period. If the volume is low – then there’s going to be something worth worrying about to get the churn going.

German elections might be one for starters. Here we have the EU’s ‘daddy’ going to the polls in September. This also coincides with the predicted withdrawal of QE3.

Now there’s ‘uncertainty’ there all wrapped up and ready to be peddled when the time is right. But that’s 3 months away – so no need run that story just yet Unless of course the pre-election indications show some doubt over the german coalition winning for another term.

What will the EU look like without Merkel at the helm? Better or worse?

Major markets wobbled for another week as the above euphoria or realisation that the Nikkei cannot rise 1000pts per month forever – sunk in.

The Dow closed week 22 down 187 pts at 15116. The FTSE 100 lost 71pts to close the week at 6583.

A virtual portfolio has been set up using the 2012 final trading day close figures as a starting point and £1000 has been invested in each stock. This does not include buying fees or stamp duty and is purely intended to be used as a benchmark or summary for each week. One newspaper top ten picks for 2013 has been included to help monitor/compare against. A pi ‘polled’ top picks list (from LSE bulletin boards) has been included this year.

Week 22 stock picks summary:

As mentioned last week – the growth in rather dull stocks has been high due to free QE3 wonga. The banks are sticking their freebies into safe stocks and in the meantime hoarding cash rather than lending it out as they should be. A complete aversion to risk. Well – you can’t blame ‘em. But there does come a point when free BoE pay day loans end and the banks / market has to find its own way through the system. As the dull stocks begin to look over priced and ready for a sell off – where’s the money going to go? Where’s the growth going to come from? Well, it’s too early to call as yet but the last two weeks trend of large cap sell offs and small cap rises suggests that a small but not un-noticeable ‘rotation’ may have begun. It’s not rocket science. Selling one overbought sector/large caps and moving into oversold / small caps seems the logical thing to do. Especially as lower entry levels help derisk the investment to some extent – but certainly not all.

But markets are far from logical – so a few weeks of trend spotting may be required before relaxing with the pimms.

Current standings / Week 22 Results

1. The Independent 2013 +32.36% (weekly loss of 1.68%)
2. TheShareHub’s 2013 B-List +8.21% (weekly gain of 0.09%)
3. The LSE BB List 2013 -3.91% (weekly gain of 1.16%)
4. TheShareHub’s 2013 Hotlist -8.37% (weekly gain of 0.52%)

Click on Portfolio image to enlargeIndependent week 22 sharehub b-list week 22 LSE polled picks week 22 sharehub hotlist week 22

Serica reveals 670mmbls (p50 unrisked) Namibia Target with multi-billion upside.

Serica revealed final results today and whilst there was nothing out of the ordinary in there – the detail on Namibia does seem to have been missed by many as it was tucked away in the Licence/ops summary section.

For the past 6 months+ we have been teased by Serica with regard to the Namibian main target known as Prospect B.

Today they revealed the following…

“Prospect B covers an area in excess of 700 square kilometres with vertical closure of up to 300m. In house interpretation indicates that the prospect has a gross resource potential (P50 unrisked) of 670 million barrels with multi-billion barrel upside potential.” END.

Currently Serica holds a 55% interest in the block but this will drop to 17.5% IF/When BP decide on drilling a well on the licence.

Serica would be fully carried on the bulk of costs pre-development and thus potentially has its fingers on over 100mmboe. And that’s conservative. And based on just one namibian prospect.

It wasn’t that long ago that the likes of CHAR were trading on a £530mln (£110mln in cash) market based on targets in Namibia that lacked the comprehensive detail achieved by BP/Serica to date (3D).

Throw in the huge (carried) Morocco blocks set to be drilled later this year and you have a £43mln company (no debt) with free carried prospects that could exceed over 300mmboe ‘net’ to Serica if all turned out to be a success.

Quite astonishing.

Serica is likely to be very hot property in a few months time and at 23p per share, it offers terrific value based on risk vs reward.

As per usual – research and risk assessment is required before getting stuck in. So have a look at the full results detail issued today which is available on the SQZ website.

Highlights are outlined below…

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30 May 2013

Serica Energy plc

Results for the year ended 31 December 2012

London, 30 May 2013 – Serica Energy plc (TSX & AIM: SQZ), the oil and gas exploration and production company with assets in the UK, Norway and the Atlantic margins off Africa and Ireland, today announces its financial results for the year ended 31 December 2012. The results and associated Management Discussion and Analysis are included below and copies are available at www.serica-energy.com and www.sedar.com.

Operations Highlights:

   --      Overall targets met in 2012

– Secured preliminary development consent for the Columbus Field and took development to tender document stage

– Completed four farmouts – Luderitz Blocks, Foum Draa, Sidi Moussa and UK Block 22/19c with a fifth, UK Blocks 113/26b & 27c (Doyle), awaiting completion

   --      Net benefit to Company from farmouts in excess of US$40 million 
   --      Completed largest continuous 3D seismic acquisition programme offshore Namibia 
   --      Preparations for drilling Doyle and two wells offshore Morocco have commenced

– 2H2013 drilling decision in Namibia awaits outcome of seismic interpretation – proceeding well

Financial Highlights:

   --      End year cash balances US$22.3 million, no debt

– Kambuna field generated net cash of US$9.2 million during the year but gross loss of US$3.9 million after non-cash depletion charges

– Loss for the year of US$24.7 million – includes cost of Spaniards well (US$8.8 million) and impairment charges to Kambuna field as it nears end of economic life (US$4.4 million)

   --      Existing resources cover 2013 work programme and commitments

Asset Highlights:

UK:

Columbus field (Serica operator – 33.2%)

   --      Field export route to be revised following BG's cancellation of BLP 
   --      Discussions in hand to take Columbus production direct to Lomond field 
   --      New route technically feasible - commercial discussions will determine outcome 
   --      Alternative routes under review 
   --      NSAI estimate 5.4 mmboe reserves net to Serica unchanged

Central North Sea

   --     Block 22/19c (Serica - 15%)

o Farmed out to JX Nippon for back costs and a full carry up to and including one deep well with drilling at JX Nippon discretion

o A deep prospect has been identified

   --      Blocks 15/21g & part 15/21a (Serica - 21%)

o Spaniards appraisal well drilled in October encountered 75 ft of Jurassic sands but water bearing

o Evaluation of remaining prospectivity on-going

Southern North Sea York area (Serica – 37.5%)

– 3D seismic survey underway to evaluate gas prospects adjacent to the Centrica operated producing York gas field

East Irish Sea

   --      Doyle prospect - farm out expected to be completed shortly 
   --      Site survey recently completed over Doyle ready to commence drilling operations 
   --      Work on Block 110/8b awaits results of nearby drilling

Norway

   --      Bream Field awaits development decision by partners

Atlantic Margin Exploration:

Namibia – Luderitz Blocks (Serica operator – 55%)

   --      17,400 square kilometre block awarded in central Luderitz Basin at turn of year 
   --      Agreed farm out to BP in March 
   --      Completed 4,180 square kilometre 3D seismic survey at end of September 
   --      Fast track data is excellent quality and early indications very encouraging:

o Confirms presence of very large 4-way dip closed prospect (Prospect B)

o Indicates additional significant canyon turbidite channel sand features

– Result of Wingat well recently drilled by HRT in northern Namibia is encouraging as it reportedly recovered light, high quality oil and presence of 2 mature working oil source rocks

– Serica estimate gross P(50) resource potential of 670 mmbbls for Prospect B with substantial upside supported by independent report

   --      BP to decide in 2H2013 on exercising option to drill well 
   --      All work to-date at no cost to Serica

Morocco

   --      Foum Draa (Serica - 8.333%)

o Farmed out to Cairn for back costs and a carried interest in one well up to US$60 million gross cost

o Operator estimates gross mean prospective resources of 268 mmbbls in first two prospects

o Transocean Cajun Express deep water semi-submersible drilling rig contracted with expected spud early 4Q2013

   --      Sidi Moussa (Serica - 5%)

o Farmed out to Genel for back costs and a carried interest in exploration costs, including one well, up to US$50 million gross cost

o Operator estimates gross resource potential of 200 mmbbls with upside potential 850 mmbbls

o Noble Paul Romano deep water, semi-submersible rig contracted with expected spud early 1Q2014

Ireland

   --      Discussions taking place with potential partners for Muckish prospect in the Rockall Basin 
   --      Farm-out campaign planned for Slyne basin blocks to follow-up Serica 2009 oil discovery

Indonesia

– The Kambuna field is now close to the end of its economic life with handover to Pertamina expected early in 2H2013

– Average 2012 daily production of 15.2 mmscfd (gross) of gas and 914 bbl/day (gross) of condensate

– Average prices realised for gas and condensate during the year were US$6.53 per mcf and US$116.10 per barrel respectively

Outlook:

This year, our targets are to strengthen the gains of last year

– to bring Columbus to project sanction and complete the financing arrangements, which had reached an advanced stage

– to complete the interpretation of the large Namibian seismic survey, on-track for third quarter, to enable a drilling decision to be made in second half

   --     to see drilling commence in Morocco, scheduled to take place in the fourth quarter, and

– to achieve a strategic partnership for operations in our Rockall and Slyne Basin blocks offshore Ireland, which is beginning to attract industry interest and where we see great potential

Tony Craven Walker, Chairman and Interim CEO of Serica commented:

“Over the past year Serica has made very good progress, particularly in our Atlantic margin exploration efforts. The potential that we are now seeing in Namibia and Morocco in particular, and the fact that we are largely carried for substantial work programmes in both these countries, demonstrates the success of our efforts to offer Serica shareholders exposure to major drilling programmes in emerging frontier areas at minimal cost and risk. We hope to emulate this in Ireland which is now beginning to see an increase in activity.

In the UK, the decision by BG not to proceed with the construction of a Bridge Linked Platform at Lomond has clearly impacted our Columbus plans but we hope only temporarily. We are currently in discussions with a view to connecting Columbus directly to the Lomond platform which, if successful, would have a minimum impact on our programme. There does not appear to be any technical reason why this should not be possible. However, the outcome will rest on whether we are able to agree reasonable commercial terms in the time frame. In the meantime we are evaluating alternatives to bring Columbus, a valuable gas resource, to the UK markets.

2013 promises to be an exciting year for the Company, a year in which we will see a drilling decision made in Namibia and the commencement of a two well drilling programme in Morocco as well as activity on several of our UK blocks. The Company has sufficient funds to meet this programme and the Board is examining a range of strategic options to address the resources needed to provide for growth in future years. We are planning for success and I look forward to being able to update shareholders as our work programme progresses.”

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