Oil firms’ shares on hold ahead of Aim update
FIRMS connected with the so-called Gatwick gusher are expected to update the market with new information about the Surrey oil well as early as today, after suspending shares yesterday.
UK Oil & Gas Investments (UKOG), as well as Solo Oil, Alba Minerals, Stellar Resources and Doriemus, all suspended trading on the junior market pending an announcement about the Horse Hill-1 Well.
The suspension is not expected to last long, however it could last until early next week.
Investor speculation had pointed to a potential takeover of the companies’ interests in the well, however City A.M. understands that the announcement relates to tests that have been carried out at the well, which is located in the Weald Basin near Gatwick Airport.
The Aim regulator is aware of the contents of the upcoming announcement.
Shares in UKOG, which had been falling off earlier in the week, rose dramatically by 20 per cent on Wednesday, closing at 2.65p.
UKOG, which is led by Aim veteran David Lenigas, and the other companies which suspended trading on the market yesterday, saw their share prices skyrocket in early April when they announced the discovery of potentially 100bn barrels of oil near Gatwick.
Shares in the company itself jumped by more than 300 per cent when the find was first revealed. Both UKOG and Aim declined to comment yesterday.