In 2010 Aminex sold a 50% stake in Korex Ltd, a subsidiary holding its Korean interests, to Chosun Energy. Subsequently Korex Ltd signed a new PSC for the Korean East Sea, shallow and deep water, covering 50,680 km². The exploration term of the PSC is ten years divided into four periods, the first three being of two years each and the final one of four years. It requires new marine seismic in an initial 2 year period.
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Aminex PLC is engaged in the exploration for, and the development and production of oil and gas reserves. Its principal area of activities includes the United States, East Africa, North Africa and North Korea. Its segments include Producing Oil and Gas Properties, Exploration Activities and Oilfield Services and Supplies. The Company's licenses in Tanzania include Nyuni PSA, Kiliwani North and Ruvuma PSA. During the year ended December 31, 2010, it drilled three wells, one in Tanzania and two in the United States. As of December 31, 2010, the Company held leases at Shoats Creek covering approximately 2,100 acres. Aminex Oilfield Services & Supply Company (AMOSSCO), its wholly owned subsidiary, provides logistics services to oil industry and sources oilfield equipment and consumables to international oil companies. In March 2012, it announced that Aminex USA, Inc. its subsidiary, completed agreements to sell leases and other assets consisting of the Somerset Field in Texas. more »
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Thanks for the thread, DL :-)
It doesn't surprise me very much. DPRK has been repeatedly backed into a corner by the more powerful nations in the 6 party talks who have (IMO) overplayed their hand in trying to get DPRK to prove the unproveable (in the case of the old US regime and their verification demands) and agree to things that weren't in the original agreement.
Not surprisingly the DPRK have concluded that only by joining the likes of India, Pakistan, Israel and Iran (soon) in having nuclear capability will they achieve enough negotiating leverage to get a deal done on "fair" terms. Quite a clear case of the diplomats having "got it wrong" IMO, so it will be interesting to see whether the news actually forces some urgency into proceedings (which will probably, in fact, be better for AEX and oil prospects in DPRK than if the current spinning-out of negotiations continues without any pressure to reach a conclusion!)
rgds
ee
If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would say it was the Chinese behind this - they will get North Korea to act like a crazy dog, ignoring everyone around them and then the nice Chinese will come in and calm the situation down, thus extending their control over the region and showing that the other major powers, USA, Japan and Russia lack the muscle.
After all, they bankrolled the Sri Lankan govt vs the LTTE, in exchange for mineral rights and a naval base and India stood back powerless....
Not surprising at all but I'm not sure I quite have the sympathy ee does for NK.
From the NK standpoint they consider the actions of the US and Japan with regard to the 6 party talks as aggressive. Certainly it is true that both those parties have sought to delay and frustrate the 6 party talks by introducing issues that were completely incapable of being resolved (and were not envisaged as problems when DPRK signed originally). In the case of Japan it is being demanded that they produce evidence of the ultimate fate of several dozen people kidnapped decades ago (despite DPRK having admitted to the kidnap and, IIRC, apologised). In the case of the US they demanded that DPRK produce a list of nuclear facilities that included all the items that the US thought they actually had - which, if the US standard of snooping was as good as in Iraq, would clearly be impossible.
....it is very very easy to "provoke" desperate people when others gang up to paint them into a corner that is impossible to get out of.
FWIW
ee
EE, I seem to have more success in shares I can hold in an ISA and FOGL is not one of those I believe. If the situation changed it seems like the sort of risk I would be keen on taking. I believe you rarely stray outside of the comfort your ISA holdings, or do you have reason to believe FOGL might list elsewhere?
Salty
AEX is, FOGL isn't. Hence I hold AEX and (not yet at least) FOGL.
Thanks for that ee, I have a few AEX left but clearly somehow switched threads.
Carljg on TMF posted this link to a Newsweek article about North Korea entitled "How Kim affords his nukes".
http://www.newsweek.com/id/200053
)have I done something wrong with this link?)
Quite interesting-among the main points are that N.Korea may not be quite as economically desperate as we like to imagine and have in fact upgraded their industrial base over the last few years, have legit. sources of income (the counterfeiting operation may have been as real as Saddam's WMD's) and that NK is less isolated than we might imagine. All rather bears out the view that Dear Leader may be a bampot, but he could be a bampot with a strategy, and perhaps some genuine reason to feel aggrieved, as ee suggested earlier.
We are, I guess, still some way from the " N Korean troops massing on the border" bit, but I must admit to some doubts as to to whether Aminex's bits of paper will escape Dear Leader's shredder.
w
This may be why all the muscle flexing has been going on.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8078324.stm
Positve? Well, you never know.
cheers
DL
All quiet on here, despiter the UN sanctions etc.
Here's a piece from today's Torygraph, anyway.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/northkorea/5523129/North-Korea-in-early-phase-of-all-out-confrontation-with-US.html
North Korea in 'early phase of all-out confrontation with US'
North Korea has pledged to begin work "weaponising" plutonium to create another nuclear bomb as it delivered a furious response to a UN resolution ordering a fresh round of sanctions against the rogue Stalinist state.
Somehow, I don't see the AEX contract with North Korea as being likely to add much value to the SP for the time being! Just as well it isn't absorbing much expenditure.
Man Siarad
I must say that I find it surprising that the US and allies have gone down the "hardline" route rather than trying to negotiate a deal with one of the most impoverished peoples on earth. Taking the hard line was always going to provoke a strong reaction from DPRK - nobody likes being kicked when they are down and it is plain that DPRK have felt they deserved more respect from the other parties to the six party talks (particularly the USA, Japan and (since the change of government there) South Korea).
It is odd to see Obama's government apparently trying to take an even harder line than Bush's did.
I'm relatively relaxed about this TBH.......not only has there been minimal spending on DPRK (and virtually none for the last 2-3 years) but the issue cannot be resolved until it becomes a pressing one for the USA! The latest DPRK threats would, on the face of it, move it up the priority list - and therefore some sort of resolution seems to be moving nearer.......which can't hurt AEX's interests - there is nothing worse that a continued suspension of activity.......and it is better to have some hope of restarting work following a resolution than for the standoff to look like lasting indefinitely!
ee
Hi ee
Nothing in the price for NK, and as you say BH confirmed at the AGM that no time has been spent on it in recent years.
However, I did ask about the prospectivity of NK, and I was interested to be reminded of just how many possibilities there could be if the politics ever came good, and the agreement still held (I think 15 years to run ?).
In summary Mike Rego's answer was:
1) West Sea
11 holes drilled historically (most recent 1989) . 2 shows, and 2 tested one at about 425 bopd, so definitely something down there, but complex geology, and very close to China.
2) Onshore
A 1996 well had shows of oil, and geology thought to be similar to West Sea.
3) East Sea
The really interesting one. There is late 80s Soviet Seismic, identifying large structures, and the thinking is that it has similarities to Sakhalin. Two wells were sunk. I think one in 1997 found something, but the discussion moved on, and I didn't pin that down.
Mike did a seminar in Australia a few years back setting all this out in detail. I don't suppose anyone has a link ? If not I might ask if there's anything he could pass on.
I don't think I can add much to the other general AGM comments from others, but the things that particularly struck me (most of which have been mentioned elsewhere) were:
a) Share price was held down by a seller trickling out 50,000 shares a day for four months.
b) Shoats Creek valued at $95m on 2P reserves as at 12/08. (I think this means that whilst it couldn't be monetised quickly since US assets tend to sell on 1P value effectively Shoats on its own should cover the shareprice several times over once its been developed further). An inherited 3D survey on Shoats Creek has given a strong boost to its future development. Very good farm out prospects. Lots of angles to increase value of US assets. Even South Weslaco could be sold to raise some cash.
c) Whilst Ruvuma could change the company, and they are 'quietly confident' on the farmout, this is frontier exploration still - as other wells are sunk nearby (such as Anadarko's 7 well programme over the border), and more seismic takes place, the prospects will become clearer.
d) Other African assets offer interesting angles - as well as Nyuni/West Songo Songo (which wrap around the existing Songo Songo gas field, and where there has been the KN-1 discovery), there is the free carry 10% interest at WEEM (Egypt), where at least 1 wildcat is expected later this year.
Mike
In reply to ternary (post #12)
Yes - thanks for those comments :-)
The East Sea area is really quite interesting - which certainly makes it a shame it won't be drilled any time soon!
There is some old seismic by Beach (in 1997 IIRC) that shows some decent structures - but there is little point in thinking much about them until the politics get sorted.
ee
Afternoon all,
totally o/t but the Times has an article today commenting on the North Korean football teams recent success in qualifying for the World Cup in South Africa next year,
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/leading_article/article6531399.ece
The jist of the article is that it could take a world event such as this to act as a catalyst for change in the country,
obviously this wouldn't happen without some sort of uprising amongst the people of NK but change has happened in Eastern Europe and China and who would have thought we would see the pictures shown on tv at present from Iran?
As is often mentioned regarding Aminex, North Korea is firmly on the back burner at present but the contracts are signed and when/if change does come it may happen more quickly than we think!
All the best,