WTI (July) $71.77 -$1.21, Brent (Aug) $73.23v-$1.06, Diff -$1.46 +21c
USNG (July) $3.75 +17c, UKNG (July) 90.17p -0.31p, TTF (July) €38.725 +€0.105

Oil price

Oil retraced some steps yesterday, general consensus is that whilst serious, the war between Iran and Israel is unlikely to interrupt world oil flow and therefore it’s back to views on supply and demand. If you believe the IEA you will be bearish, as ever they are playing down short term demand in crude oil but they are way too bullish on renewables. 

This morning oil is over a dollar up, a problem in the Straits of Hormuz got instant attention but it is only a navigational issue and there are some concerns about Israel attacking the South Pars gas field which would affect the gas market, particularly LNG. 

Seascape Energy Asia

Seascape has announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Seascape Energy Asia (One) Sdn. Bhd., has been awarded a 100% participating   interest as operator in a Small Field Asset Production Sharing Contract over the Temaris Cluster offshore Peninsular Malaysia.

The Award was made under the Malaysia Bid Round 2025 (“MBR 2025”) launched in February 2025 by Petroliam Nasional Berhad (PETRONAS) via Malaysia Petroleum Management (“MPM”) the oil & gas industry regulator in Malaysia.

The Award of Seascape’s first development operatorship  represents a material step forward for the Company in expanding the scale and scope of its business, further building on its success in Malaysia and delivering on its ambition to materially expand the Company’s portfolio in 2025.

Highlights

• Located in shallow-water, Peninsular Malaysia
• Comprised of two gas discoveries; Tembakau and Mengkuang
• 100% working interest, first Seascape-operated development
• Temaris awarded under Small Field Asset terms
• Initial work indicates Temaris could contain >250 bcf (~42 mmboe) of discovered resources
• In addition, significant exploration upside on-block and in surrounding open acreage
• Targeting a low-cost development plan, FDAP delivery within 18 months
• Work commitment to be met through cash-on-hand

Background

Temaris  is comprised of two gas discoveries in shallow water (~70 metres) offshore Peninsular Malaysia on the western flank of the Malay basin and covers an area of around 1,200 sq km.

The main discovery, Tembakau, was originally made in 2012 and appraised in 2014 while the smaller Mengkuang discovery was made in 2015, both by Lundin Malaysia B.V. (now International Petroleum Corporation).

Tembakau is located near to infrastructure and benefits from an extensive dataset including full 3D seismic coverage, well logs, DSTs and extensive well core. Temaris’ three main stacked reservoirs comprise of Early-Mid Miocene channel sandstones which are clearly imaged on 3D seismic and which exhibit a strong amplitude response. The field has excellent reservoir properties, contains dry gas with very low levels of impurities and tested at substantial flow rates. The field is located near infrastructure, with the closest producing gas field being located 47 km away from the field.

Mengkuang is located 30 km to the northeast of Tembakau in high quality Miocene sandstones which also demonstrate strong amplitude responses. The field also benefits from a good dataset though was not tested at the time of discovery.

Previous public disclosures indicated that the existing discoveries on the Temaris Cluster could contain in excess of 250 bcf (~42 mmboe) of recoverable resources viewed as crucial to boost gas supply to Peninsular Malaysia, which is forecasted to be deficient in the next few years. The continuation of the Tembakau and Mengkuang channel sandstone reservoirs across the Temaris PSC also represents significant exploration upside. Seascape has been using high-end geophysical techniques to identify these channelised targets and is confident additional exploration potential will be matured both within the PSC and across neighbouring open acreage.

Key Terms

Similar to the Company’s DEWA Complex Cluster (Seascape, 28%) development asset, the Temaris Cluster development will fall under the Small Field Asset (“SFA”) terms which are specifically designed to simplify and incentivise rapid development of smaller hydrocarbon accumulations in Malaysia and provide enhanced field economics versus traditional PSCs.

Given the shallow water depths and nearby infrastructure, Seascape is targeting a low-cost development plan utilising a normally unmanned platform with minimal processing which could support a potential gross production plateau of up to 100 mmscfd.

The key terms of the Award are to deliver a Field Development and Abandonment Plan (“FDAP”) within 18 months along with certain specialised subsurface studies and 3D seismic reprocessing. The financial commitment under the Award is ~US$2 million and will be met through Seascape’s existing cash resources.

Competent Persons Report

Given the rapid growth in the Company’s portfolio since Q4 2024, the Company has commissioned Sproule-ERCE to undertake a CPR to provide an independent assessment of the contingent and prospective resources covering the Temaris Cluster and DEWA Complex Cluster.

It is anticipated that the CPR will be completed during the next few months, and the Company will update investors in due course.

Investor Meet Company

Nick Ingrassia (CEO), James Menzies (Executive Chairman) and Pierre Eliet (Executive Director and Country Chair Malaysia) will host a live presentation for investors via Investor Meet Company on Thursday, 19 June 2025 at 09:30 AM BST.

The presentation is open to all existing and potential shareholders. Questions can be submitted pre-event via your Investor Meet Company dashboard up until 18 June 2025, 09:00 AM BST, or at any time during the live presentation.

Investors can sign up for free via: https://www.investormeetcompany.com/seascape-energy-asia-plc/register-investor 

Investors who follow Seascape Energy on the Investor Meet Company platform will automatically be invited.

Nick Ingrassia, CEO of Seascape, commented:
“The Temaris award marks yet another pivotal moment in Seascape’s growth, becoming operator and 100% owner of a material gas development in Malaysia and delivering on our promise to expand our portfolio materially during 2025 through low-cost, high-value ground floor opportunities.

The Temaris Cluster not only contains two, high-quality gas fields with excellent reservoir characteristics, but also benefits from significant exploration upside both in the Award itself and the surrounding open acreage. These volumes can be rapidly monetised with a low-cost approach to deliver much needed gas to Peninsular Malaysia and continuing supporting strong economic growth forecasts.

Temaris, together with our DEWA Complex development and significant exploration upside in 2A (Kertang) in Sarawak, positions Seascape as a material Malaysian player holding a high-quality asset portfolio with production potential in excess of 20,000 boepd over the coming years.

On behalf of our entire team, I would like to express our gratitude to PETRONAS MPM for the Award and continued encouragement to build a meaningful business in Malaysia. We look forward to moving forward to quickly grow value for the benefit of both our shareholders and our Malaysian stakeholders.”

This is very good news for Seascape shareholders who haven’t been kept waiting for long by the energetic and eager team under James Menzies and Nick Ingrassia.  As promised, SEA has announce a further build of its Malaysian portfolio with its top targeted asset in the region, previously owned by Lundin before reverting to Petronas. 

With Seascapes competitive advantage in-country yet again proving invaluable it appears that they have done it again, buying an asset with support of the regulator, the State company and with a bag full of data. Again they have nicked a deal from under the noses of the competition, showing their acumen and cutting to the chase.

The existing discovery gives them 250 bcf of sweet gas, already discovered with great flow rates from high quality reservoirs and which benefits from substantial upside that has the potential to dwarf the existing discoveries. Perhaps more importantly it gives Seascape the operatorship, which is most important and carries with it a caché in the area particularly with Governments and Ministries, Petronas in this case. 

After the farm-out of A2, which was initially Seascape’s flagship project this will now become their own, operated flagship project where James Menzies and team can develop their skills whilst building out their rapidly expanding portfolio. Indeed in this acquisition the block next door carries some potential and could be available in the next licensing round, as the Tamaris Cluster shoes the play extending in that direction.

Should this prospect come about and the company does build out the acquired acreage as planned, they intend to use their geophysical skills and develop a hub system, much loved by local ministries and is bound to garner popularity for the future.

Things are clearly going very well for Seascape and readers know how bullish I am about this story. They also know that when JM and the team arrived on the market almost exactly one year ago the shares were 7.5p and I had no hesitation in setting a TP of 75p. The market soon followed and I am now waiting to go again with a higher TP on the back of this deal. 

I will talk to the company and listen to the presentation on Thursday and revert but with the shares up 25% today I think that number may have three figures, let’s wait and see…

High Quality With Upside, Doable, Valuable

Chariot

Chariot has announced the result of its Open Offer pursuant to the Fundraising announced on 23 May 2025.

The Company is pleased to announce that it has received valid acceptances from Qualifying Shareholders in respect of 62,270,970 Open Offer Shares, representing a take-up of over 119 per cent of the 52,279,027 Open Offer Shares available.

All Qualifying Shareholders who have validly applied for Open Offer Shares will receive their full Basic Entitlement. Applications for Open Offer Shares under the Excess Application Facility will be scaled back on a pro-rata basis of the excess shares applied for, with the same scaling methodology to be applied to each shareholder who applied for Excess Entitlements. Accordingly, the Open Offer has conditionally raised total gross proceeds of approximately US$1 million (£0.7 million).

The issuance of the Open Offer Shares is subject to and conditional on the passing of the Resolutions at the General Meeting to be held on 18 June 2025.

Julian Maurice-Williams, CFO of Chariot, commented:
“We are very pleased to announce the results of this Open Offer and would like to thank our shareholders for their ongoing support. This brings the total funds raised to US$7.1 million and we look forward to delivering on our plans across our Upstream and Renewable Power businesses over the coming months.”

A good level of oversubscription for Chariot and despite the recent problems at Anchois the company has a strong potential programme in both the upstream and in the renewable power businesses. The company hasn’t finished at Anchois in Morocco and they have assets in Namibia and have been seen around places in Africa such as Mauritania and elsewhere, the power business has huge potential in a continent that advertises its need for power almost every day.

Sound Energy

Sound has announced completion of the regional screening study for natural hydrogen and helium undertaken in collaboration with Getech Group Plc, a global leader in locating essential energy and mineral resources crucial for the energy transition.

On 28 October 2024 the Company announced entry into an Exploration Collaboration Agreement (the “Agreement”) with Getech.  Pursuant to the Agreement, the parties will collaborate to seek to explore for naturally occurring hydrogen and helium in Morocco. The initial phase of the Agreement comprised a regional screening study to identify areas of potential interest for more detailed assessment by the parties.

The Company is pleased to announce that the regional screening study has been completed and has identified areas of significant prospective potential for natural hydrogen and helium occurrence sufficient to warrant further study. The Company and Getech intend, under the terms of the Agreement, to form a Joint Venture and negotiate jointly exclusive rights for the exploration and exploitation of hydrogen and helium resources in Morocco, progressing towards necessary geophysical and drilling activities to unlock potential deposits.

John Argent, VP Geoscience of Sound Energy, commented:
“We are pleased with the outcome of the regional screening study, which applied Getech’s proprietary geologically genetic workflows to identify and de-risk areas with potential for hydrogen and helium across the whole of Morocco. The study has yielded several high-potential targets that will now be the focus of our next phase of evaluation to refine a more targeted exploration programme. As we deepen our collaboration with Getech, we will continue to leverage our local partnerships and operational expertise to unlock value. We see this as a strong validation of our joint approach and a meaningful step forward in our strategy to establish a leading position in the emerging natural hydrogen and helium sector.”

Sound has also announced that it has signed an exclusive term sheet with Gaia Energy Ltd. (“Gaia”), a specialist in renewable energy, for the development of up to 270 MW of installed capacity of PV solar power at various locations in Morocco. 

Taking advantage of the liberalised medium voltage (“MV”) grid in Morocco, the Company and Gaia propose to enter into a Joint Venture and aim to construct solar power sites at ten or more locations close to MV substations and therefore customers. Gaia has commenced feasibility studies at a number of sites. Such studies include measurement and modelling of solar irradiation, land access studies, grid connection and capacity assessments. The next steps, upon formalisation of the JV, are to carry out the formal applications for grid capacity, other regulatory requirements, and negotiation of power purchase agreements (“PPAs”).

Sound is putting some long term ground bait down in renewable power in Morocco. In solar it is partnering with Gaia for up to 270 MW of installed capacity and is joining with Getech in natural hydrogen and helium. I’m due a meeting with Sound Chairman Graham Lyon so will add more after i’ve heard from him. 

Diversified Energy Company

Diversified Energy Company PLC (LSE:DEC, NYSE:DEC) announced on April 9, 2025 a dividend in respect of the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2024 in the amount of 29 cents per share (the “Q4 2024 Dividend”.)  The Company will pay the Q4 2024 Dividend on June 30, 2025 to those shareholders on the register on May 30, 2025.

The Company announces that shareholders who have elected to receive their dividends in GBP sterling will receive an equivalent dividend payment of 21.254 pence per share, based on the June 12, 2025 exchange rate of GBP 0.73288 =US $1.00.

The normal dividend announcement for those shareholders receiving dividends in sterling.

Sunda Energy

Sunda Energy Plc (AIM: SNDA), the AIM-quoted exploration and appraisal company focused on gas assets in Southeast Asia, announces that the planned Chuditch-2 appraisal well on the Chuditch field in the TL-SO-19-16 Production Sharing Contract (the “PSC”), planned for drilling by the Company’s wholly owned Timor-Leste subsidiary SundaGas Banda Unipessoal, Lda. (“SundaGas”) in H2 2025, is now expected to be drilled in H1 2026.

The delay is due to the absence at the present time of certain essential logistical services in Timor-Leste that are mutually acceptable to the joint venture partners, and that meet the required international operational and safety standards. Therefore, the Company has not been able to proceed with the execution of a definitive, agreed form rig contract, which is an outstanding condition to the farm-in agreement entered into on 24 April 2025 by SundaGas and government-owned joint venture partner TIMOR GAP Chuditch Unipessoal Lda (“TIMOR GAP”).

The drilling of the Chuditch-2 appraisal well is highly dependent on having logistical support that meets the required industry safety and emergency responses standards, especially given the remoteness of the location, which is c.200 nautical miles from Timor-Leste and Northern Australia.

The postponement of the drilling campaign to 2026, will require several subsequent actions to be undertaken. 

An application has already been submitted by the joint venture partners for a 12-month extension of the current phase of the PSC, which expires on 18 June 2025, to the upstream regulator Autoridade Nacional do Petróleo (“ANP”). The Company anticipates that this extension will be granted prior to the expiration of Contract Year 3.

SundaGas and TIMOR GAP have agreed that with the Conditions of the Farm-in Agreement having not been fulfilled and the Long Stop date detailed in the announcement of 29 May 2025 having passed, the Farm-in Agreement, signed on 24 April 2025 (the “Farm-In Agreement”) will terminate. However, SundaGas and TIMOR GAP have agreed to hold further discussions on partnering arrangements including a potential revised farm-in on substantially the same terms.

Termination of the Farm-In Agreement means the working interests on the PSC remain unchanged, with SundaGas holding a 60% working interest and operatorship and TIMOR GAP having a 40% interest. SundaGas and TIMOR GAP are responsible for paying 80% and 20% of all project costs respectively.

The Convertible Loan Note Agreement signed on 24 April 2025 (“CLNs”) includes several conditions, including the Farm-in Agreement and the rig contract being fully effective. As this is not the case, the Company does not currently expect to drawdown any further tranches of the funds available through the CLNs.

The postponement of the drilling campaign will provide a further opportunity for alternative funding sources to be secured. The Company intends to initiate new or revisited discussions with potential funding parties that have expressed an interest in participating in the development of the Chuditch project and the export of gas for LNG.

SundaGas and TIMOR GAP have agreed to work closely together to pursue alternative drilling rigs for the Chuditch-2 well, as the rig that had been negotiated is in the process of being sold to a third party. With a softening in the market for jack-up rigs globally, the Company expects wider availability, including a choice of modern efficient rigs and competitive daily operating rental rates.

The process for the issuance of an environmental permit (“EP”) for the Chuditch-2 well will also continue. The Final Environmental Impact Statement (“EIS”) and Environmental Management Plan (“EMP”) documents were submitted to ANP on 30 May 2025. ANP has established the statutory Evaluation Committee (“EC”), which has completed its initial verification of the EIS and EMP and commenced its own Public Consultation process. Based on the regulatory timeline for approvals, it is expected that the final EP will be issued during Q3 2025.

Dr Andy Butler, Chief Executive Officer of Sunda, commented:
“While this temporary delay is frustrating, the significant value to Sunda and its shareholders remains. The sole reason that the Company has not been able to sign the rig contract and progress to drill now is the absence of viable in-country logistical services that are mutually acceptable to the joint venture partners at this time. We are however already working to establish a plan for timely drilling in 2026, in close liaison with TIMOR GAP and ANP, building on the extensive preparations that have been carried out to date. SundaGas remains committed, along with our partner TIMOR GAP, to the early drilling and expedited development of Chuditch. I would like to thank our shareholders for their support. The Board remains confident of being able to capture the value of the project for the benefit of all stakeholders, including our partners in Timor Leste, with whom we remain closely aligned”

Clearly this is not what the company wanted to tell the market and in a recent meeting with the company they were naturally upbeat about the prospects, I wrote that it was a good time to be taking another look at the company, I think I was a step too soon. 

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