Desire Petroleum Soars on Hopes of Drilling Report Tomorrow
By Elena Moya
Malvern, England, May 30 (Bloomberg) -- Desire Petroleum Plc shares rose 42 percent on hopes the unprofitable U.K. oil and gas company will announce at its annual general meeting tomorrow the size of a natural gas field it's exploring in central Portugal.
Investors posted messages about the meeting on Internet chatrooms such as Hemscott Information Exchange, fuelling the share price, said Frank Moxon, an analyst with the company's stockbroker, Societe Generale Securities in London.
``The movement is in anticipation of what the results might be,'' Moxon said. ``I'm not expecting any big announcement.''
The stock rose 9.5 pence to 32p, the highest percentage gain on the FT-SE Alternative Investment Market Index.
The company will detail to shareholders the progress it has made with the Aljubarrota 3 well in central Portugal tomorrow, David Quick, a director with Malvern-based Desire, said last week.
The well is operated by Houston-based Mohave Oil & Gas Corp., Desire's partner. Galp-Petroleos e Gas de Portugal SGPS SA last month signed an accord with Mohave to gain a 10 percent stake in the concession and options to acquire shares in other fields around Aljubarrota 3, Desire said.
The meeting will start at 6 p.m. in London, Moxon said.
Desire is worth 33 million pounds at the current price. Its shares have lost 22 percent so far this year. |
