WTI (Aug) $70.32 -$2.89, Brent (Aug) $73.74 -$3.34, Diff -$3.42 +7c.
USNG (July) $3.22 +7c, UKNG (July) 96.85p -2.8p, TTF (July) €40.79 -€1.355

Oil price

Oil has drifted again this morning, WTI by 88c and Brent by $1.11 as markets do the normal thing and overreact to events. With oil back to pre-war prices one can understand but this is a MOU not a treaty or as someone said, a Memorandum of Misunderstanding, I prefer TACO under the circumstances. Maybe Trump should have just sent the Ayatollah the $300bn before he started all this…

Markets have returned to sort of normal, worrying about inflation, Fed rate rises therefore a strong dollar something we haven’t discussed for a while. President Trump continues his crusade against gasoline retailers by saying that they are price gouging and that a gallon of finest should be $2.20.

Now I keep records like everyone and on the 24th February WTI was $65.63 and gasoline was $2.93 a gallon so quite where he gets his numbers from I’m not sure. Where he does have a point is on another go at the UK Government in which he reminds Andy Burnham that shutting the North Sea and buying crude in from Norway, produced, you’ve got it from the same basin at a premium is daft and would be an ‘easy win’.

Finally the EIA stats yesterday showed another big draw in crude oil, down 6.068m against a forecast

Tower Resources

Tower has  announced that it has received a formal letter of approval from the Namibian Ministry of Industries, Mines and Energy for the farm-out of the PEL96 license, offshore Namibia, to Prime Global Energies Limited.

This represents the finalisation of the only outstanding condition precedent under the PEL96 farm-out contract, announced on 10 January 2025. The Company will now send out a notice of completion to Prime, and a draft deed of assignment, novation and amendment to MIME and Tower’s partners, with completion expected to follow shortly.

The Company is still awaiting approval for the proposed purchase by its wholly owned subsidiary Tower Resources (Namibia) Limited of an additional 5% interest in the PEL96 license from its local partner, ZM Fourteen Investment (Pty) Ltd, announced on 7 March 2025. As a result of the delay, the Parties are no longer bound to complete the acquisition of this interest, but are continuing to discuss its execution.

Tower Resources Chairman & CEO, Jeremy Asher, commented:
“We are very pleased to have received this letter of approval, and would like to thank the relevant personnel at MIME, the Upstream Petroleum Unit and NAMCOR for their diligent review and continued engagement throughout this process. We would also like to welcome Prime, who we view as a highly favourable partner for PEL96, with substantial technical and financial resources and a track record of operational success. We look forward to working alongside them and our other stakeholders to progress with the work programme offshore Namibia.”

Patience is a virtue and virtue is a grace as the old rhyme goes and Jeremy Asher and his team has it by the bucketload. Only yesterday I wrote this in the blog.

No further comment needed from me here, just go back to all the times in the past I have said that the Tower portfolio is exciting with huge potential in two of the most interesting post codes, is suffering from inevitable delays in approvals processes which as Jeremy Asher says are time consuming at the best of times. 

Today I am delighted that Tower can announce the approval in Namibia and the farm-out which brings in Prime as an excellent partner goes ahead. Of course it means that the work programme offshore Namibia now goes ahead but I would bet that the company hasn’t been sitting around idly, let action commence. 

So, one down and one to go, I for one am looking forward to seeing continued progress in both Namibia and Cameroon where Tower has multiple opportunities to deliver value for those patient shareholders…

Seascape Energy Asia

Seascape has  provided an operational and corporate update ahead of its Annual General Meeting being held today.

Highlights

• Significant progress on Temaris field development with all key FEED (engineering) contracts awarded and well design completed 
• Temaris 3D seismic reprocessing has identified additional near-field exploration 
• Positive dialogue to gain access to additional acreage within the Southern Malay Basin 
• Temaris strategic partner process broadened in light of several positive developments
• Block 2A (Kertang) rig-tender results under evaluation, award anticipated during Q3 2026
• Macquarie mandated to structure debt financing of the Temaris and DEWA clusters
• Seascape well-funded with unaudited cash balances of £8.5 million as at May 2026

Temaris Cluster PSC

Significant progress has been made on the Temaris Cluster PSC (“Temaris”) (SEA 100%, op) to progress the project towards Field Development and Abandonment Plan (“FDAP”) submission in Q4 2026, only 18 months from initial award.

The initial development will focus on the Tembakau gas field with certified net 2C Contingent Resources of 246 bcf (41 mmboe) which will be produced via two, unmanned wellhead platforms tied-back to existing infrastructure. Tembakau is expected to commence production in 2028 at 100 mmscfd (~17,000 boepd) with significant resource and production growth potential.

All key front-end engineering and design (“FEED”) contracts have now been awarded following competitive tender and key subsurface studies, including well design, are complete. Indicative costs remain in-line with expectations, confirming strong returns from this short-cycle project.

The Company has recently received results from a state-of-the-art Multi Parameter – Full Waveform Inversion 3D seismic reprocessing study which has resulted in a significant uplift to the subsurface imaging of Tembakau and has added new, near-field low risk exploration prospectivity on trend with Tembakau. Definition of these additional volumes is underway and being incorporated into plans to maximise resource exploitation across the wider area.

Southern Malay Basin Growth

Through its leading geological work on Temaris, Seascape believes it has a technical and operational advantage to exploit the large, aerially extensive, channelised gas system located in the Southern Malay Basin. The Company believes this potentially significant gas resource remains crucial to filling the near-term forecast gas supply shortfall in Peninsular Malaysia. 

Seascape remains in positive dialogue with key stakeholders to gain access to additional, synergistic acreage within the Southern Malay Basin and looks forward to providing further updates in due course.

In addition to the Southern Malay Basin, the Company continues to actively assess additional growth opportunities in Malaysia and the wider Southeast Asian region and is targeting further portfolio additions during 2026.

Temaris Strategic Partner Update

In response to several unsolicited proposals, Seascape initiated a process during Q1 to introduce a strategic partner into Temaris ahead of several key project milestones. During the course of this process, several crucial developments have taken place:

• Technical work has identified 950 bcf of certified net mean Prospective Resources on-block, with significant additional upside in the adjacent acreage which Seascape has made positive progress to secure;
• Increased availability of debt for greenfield development, demonstrated through the recent structuring bank mandate (see below); and
• Middle East events have highlighted the strategic importance of Asian-gas-into-Asia, creating new inbound interest as geographic upstream investment priorities begin to shift.

These developments, along with the rapidly maturing FDAP, have resulted in Seascape broadening the scope of the original process to consider a wider range of participants and structures for this uniquely positioned asset in a geographically advantaged location.  Seascape’s ambition to introduce a high-quality partner into Temaris through a value-enhancing transaction remains unchanged and the Company looks forward to updating shareholders in due course.

DEWA Cluster 

Following the recently announced transaction by EnQuest PLC to pivot towards Malaysia through the acquisition of three large packages of assets in Malaysia, a short extension to the FDAP submission date has been granted by the regulator for the DEWA Cluster (SEA 28%). It is anticipated that the extension will allow EnQuest, which also operates DEWA, to consider potential synergies offered by the recently acquired assets as export routes for DEWA production.

The Company believes the EnQuest transaction is a positive sign of its commitment to growing production in Malaysia and highlights the significant value in Seascape’s asset base.

Block 2A PSC

A firm drilling location has now been identified on the Block 2A PSC (SEA 10%) to test the giant Kertang prospect with certified gross mean unrisked Prospective Resources of 9.1 TCF and 145 mmbbls of NGL (1.7 bnboe). The operator, INPEX CORPORATION, is currently evaluating results of the rig-tender process with final award anticipated during Q3 2026.

The Kertang well, for which Seascape has a full uncapped carry, remains on-track for drilling in mid-2027.

Financing

As announced separately today, Seascape has exclusively mandated Macquarie Bank Limited to act as the sole Structuring Bank and Technical and Modelling Bank for the debt financing of the Temaris and DEWA clusters.

Seascape will work together with Macquarie over the coming months to structure and execute a multi-tranche debt facility to meet development expenditure with availability linked to certain milestones typical for this type of financing. Any firm offer of financing remains subject to the successful completion of legal and technical due diligence and Macquarie’s receipt of all required internal approvals.

Mandating Macquarie represents another important step forward towards the development of Seascape’s gas fields and delivering significant production by 2028.

As recently announced, Seascape remains well-funded with unaudited cash balances of £8.5 million as at the beginning of May 2026 following a successful placing, subscription and oversubscribed retail offer to raise gross proceeds of approximately £5.0 million during Q1 2026.

No management comment here but I was on the webcast at which the updated presentation was very well presented and which doesn’t take the shine off my enthusiasm for Seascape. 

The Asia picture is brightening all the time as the value of Asian LNG supply is increasingly more important especially as current activity in the Middle East exacerbates their problem and of course encourages Governments to back more domestic production to provide Asian gas into Asia.

They spoke at length about recent deals in the hood, particularly from Total who have placed huge bets in the region and of course the EnQuest activity which has some bearing on Seascape assets. 

Plenty of boxes have been ticked today, significant progress at Temaris with FEED contracts awarded and well design completed. 3D seismic reprocessing has identified nearfield exploration targets and dialogue is underway with regard to possible additional acreage within the Southern Malay Basin. This has enabled the company to broaden the strategic partner process currently underway.

Obviously Kertang, or should I say the ‘giant Kertang prospect’ is heading towards the front of the mind, rig-tender results are in and being assessed ahead of drilling in H1 next year, Seascape have full, uncapped carry on this potentially huge prospect. 

Finally Macquarie bank has been mandated to arrange what will likely be financing that will structure and execute multi-tranche debt facilities for Temaris and the DEWA clusters and meet development expenditures for these projects. 

Seascape shares continue to perform well, and so they should, I remain confident that the company has a very bright year or so ahead of it, my 125p target price is easily achievable and they will stay in the Bucket List at the upcoming interim review.

Petro Matad

Petro Matad has announced its audited final results for the year ended 31 December 2025. All monetary values are expressed in United States dollars unless otherwise stated.

2025 Financial Highlights

• As of 31 December 2025, the Group’s cash position was $3.67 million inclusive of Financial Assets (31 December 2024: $2.96 million, excluding receivables).
• The Group’s net loss after tax for the twelve months ended 31 December 2025 was $4.23 million (31 December 2024: loss $10.92 million).
• An equity raise was completed in mid-July 2025 to fund activities directed at increasing production.
• Oil sales in 2025 generated revenue net to Petro Matad of c.$2 million selling at an average price for the year of $61.8 per barrel.

2025 Operational Highlights

• Heron-1 maintained production up-time of over 99% throughout 2025, delivering total oil sales of c.54,000 barrels to PetroChina’s neighbouring TA-1 facility by year-end.
• A successful well test at Gazelle-1 in October delivered a maximum rate of over 400 barrels of oil per day (“bopd”) on natural flow. The well was brought onstream by the end of October and oil sales totalling over 7,000 barrels from Gazelle-1 were achieved by year-end.
• Production from Block XX in 2025 averaged 168 bopd.
• An Oil Sales Agreement was signed with PetroChina in April 2025. A 30% revenue withholding by PetroChina related to Mongolian tax treatment was fully resolved by year-end with all 2025 payments made.
• Farm out discussions on the Company’s Mongolian portfolio with potential farminees began in early 2025 and continued throughout the year.
• Sunsteppe Renewable Energy (SRE) was very active and identified several attractive projects. Good progress was made on its 200MW Hybrid project in Tuv Province.

Mid-2026 Update

• Production from Heron-1 has continued as forecast and production from Gazelle-1 has exceeded expectations post the period end. Average production year to date is 233 bopd. In April 2026 the Company reached the milestone of its first 100,000 barrels produced thanks to the diligent efforts of the Field Operations team.
• The increase in oil price in 2026 compared to 2025 benefits the Company in that Mongolian fiscal terms are favourable and the contractor’s return increases in proportion to the increase in the oil price. 
• Block XX farm-out discussions are continuing, and with the significant rise in the oil price, an uptick in interest has been shown by a number of potentially interested parties. The farmout initiative is a major focus during 2026 and further announcements regarding progress will be made in due course, as appropriate.
• As was the case in 2025, negotiations on the annual Oil Sales Agreement with PetroChina have been slow in 2026, but finally PetroChina has approved the revised wording and has also agreed to reduce the handling fee included in the contract. With the agreement now approved, the Company will submit its invoice for the Block XX 2026 production year to date which totals over 40,000 barrels. It is hoped that the lengthy discussions on the 2026 Oil Sales Agreement, including detailed analysis of the applicable tax treatment and appropriate optimisation will facilitate a smoother and much quicker approval of a similar contract for 2027. 
• Discussions are continuing on the potential to acquire 3D seismic on Block XX during the summer of 2026.
• On renewable energy, SRE continues to focus on its 200MW Hybrid project, which is the most likely of its existing portfolio to achieve ready to build status in the near term. Meanwhile, the government is now actively pushing renewables projects forward. SRE did not to participate in recent competitive bidding on five government auctions of solar projects in the 20MW to 50MW range as the timeframe for delivery is extremely tight and penalties will be imposed if deadlines are missed. However, SRE is already very active in 2026. In addition to the 200MW Hybrid project, discussions to secure a 100MW solar/100MW battery fast track project are ongoing, an expression of interest has been submitted for a 100MW wind project the marketing of which is being managed by the International Finance Corporation and SRE is also part of a consortium chosen as the preferred bidder to negotiate terms on a 90MW solar/battery project with the Ulaanbaatar municipality. 

 Mike Buck, CEO of Petro Matad, said:
“2025 was a standout year for Petro Matad with continuing production from Heron-1 and the exciting addition of Gazelle-1 in the fourth quarter. The generation of a revenue stream for the Company is a major achievement and our focus in 2026 is on seeking a partner to join us to accelerate production and revenue. Whilst the Block XX farm-out negotiations in 2025 were frustratingly slow, the post-period increase in interest is encouraging.

We are pleased that PetroChina has finally approved the 2026 Oil Sales Agreement and the dedication of the team that made a huge effort to get this across the line is much appreciated.

SRE’s progress through 2025 was mixed, with some counterparties moving slower than we had hoped but we are currently focused on some large projects which have aggressive but realistic timeframes and so have the potential for rapid value crystallisation”.

A historic set of figures from Petro Matad this morning but that is all they are, last year was not one to dwell on as production remains disappointing at 168 b/d from Block XX and farm-out negotiations continue. The Oil Sales Agreement was however approved and there is room for a better year ahead.

Original article   l   KeyFacts Energy Industry Directory: Malcy's Blog