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Microcap & Penny Stocks : Benz Energy (BZG.V) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: tom shelby who wrote (250)	3/12/2000 12:22:00 PM
From: Ed Ajootian	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 272

Tom, Benz Commences Drilling of Mississippi Development Well in Oakvale Dome Field HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 18, 2000--Benz Energy Inc. (VSE:BZG - news) today announces that it has commenced drilling of the Texstar Petroleum Pacific Enterprises ABC Corp. 30-10 No. 1 (``PEOC') in Jefferson Davis County, Miss. The well is permitted to a depth of 16,750 feet in the Oakvale Dome Field and will develop several reservoirs that produced in down dip wells, as well as test deeper objectives. The well is located approximately one half mile from the salt structure that caused drilling problems in previous development wells that are much closer to the salt structure. Benz owns at least 55% of the working interest in the PEOC and is the operator through its wholly owned subsidiary, Texstar Petroleum Inc. The PEOC is projected to reach target depth in March of this year. The objective Hosston sands currently produce in the adjacent, but fault-separated, Texstar Katherine Saltry Byrd 31-1 No. 1 and Howell Petroleum 32-4 No. 1 wells. The Byrd commenced production in mid-1997 and is producing 7.8 million cubic feet equivalent per day of gas, and the Howell commenced production in February 1999 and is currently producing 9.5 million cubic feet equivalent per day. Benz owns a 55% working interest in both wells. Robert Herlin, president and CEO of Benz Energy, commented, ``This development well marks the beginning of a new round of development activity for Benz in Mississippi, and we expect to drill at least two more wells in the Oakvale Dome area. Drilling has also commenced on the exploratory assets recently sold and in which Benz holds a significant back-in interest.' Benz Energy Inc. is an exploration and development company based in Houston, Texas, focused on natural gas in the U.S. Gulf Coast region of Texas and Mississippi. ********************************************************** The previous two wells these bozos drilled here got stuck in the salt and went way over budget. This well is on time and on budget, and has not gotten stuck so far. I believe they will be drilling through the Hosston sands either this week or next. Assuming this well is good, another one is planned right on the heels of this one. With any luck Benz will not make a public announcement of the logging results and instead will wait for the well to get tested before announcing. This will allow folks like us to buy this stock like crazy in the meantime. Don't change this station -- I'll be sure to share any logging info I can come up with. With the 12-month natgas futures strip above the $2.90 mark, everyone is looking for gas reserves to buy on the cheap. As long as this well is commercial this company will be in a positive cash flow situation and will be an enticing acquisition candidate. They've stripped their staff to the bone (only 7 employees left), so there would be little transition costs needed to be paid by an acquiring company.

To: tom shelby who wrote (250)	3/26/2000 6:45:00 PM
From: Ed Ajootian	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 272

Unnatural Demand for Natural Gas Prices explode, while supplies fall near their lowest level in years Fed up with heating oil prices that more than doubled this winter, James Cenesullo is spending $900 to retrofit his two-story home in suburban Boston to burn natural gas. 'I went for natural gas because oil was going ballistic,' says Cenesullo. 'I'm looking forward to price stability.' He shouldn't count on it. Like Cenesullo, a growing number of utilities, businesses, and consumers are switching to natural gas to escape spiraling oil prices. While it has garnered most of the headlines, stampeding demand has also helped send natural gas prices soaring--up more than 30% at the wellhead vs. a year ago. Although regulatory protection keeps consumers from absorbing all of that increase right away, prices have jumped 9%, to about $6.63 per 1,000 cubic feet. Costs are likely to increase an additional 6% by next winter. 'A seller's market for natural gas has officially arrived,' proclaims analyst Robert L. Christensen Jr. of First Albany Corp. The seeds of this shift were sown two years ago when crude oil prices started to fall, bottoming out at $10 a barrel by the end of '98. That forced many energy companies to reduce or abandon drilling for new oil and gas. It has also become harder to squeeze production from maturing U.S. properties. In the past, the U.S. could turn to Canadian producers, but supplies are now tight up north, too. The result: Supertight supply just as demand is skyrocketing. Inventories are near their lowest levels in four years--just as the industry starts its critical April-to-October season, when storage tanks are refilled. The American Gas Assn. says inventories stand at 1.1 trillion cubic feet, down 22.8% from a year ago. The shortfall comes despite three straight years of warmer-than-normal winters. Analysts predict it will be difficult to rebuild reserves in time for next winter. A buoyant economy is making that job even tougher. Industrial users account for nearly half of the demand, while residential consumers account for 22%. The Energy Information Administration estimates natural gas demand will grow nearly 5% this year; production is expected to increase less than 1%. Next year, the agency estimates, demand will climb 3%, while production will rise a mere 0.3%. 'North American gas markets are heading for a major train wreck,' warns Goldman, Sachs & Co. analyst Donald F. Textor. BYE BYE, COAL. Fueling the growth in demand is a new generation of power plants that use efficient and environmentally friendly natural gas. Regulators are cracking down on utilities with older coal-fired plants that violate clean-air standards. Analyst Christensen says some 22 new natural-gas power generators will crank up this summer. The strong market has caused a pick-up in drilling, but not fast enough to meet demand until the middle of next year. In the meantime, 'every single gas well in the U.S. and Canada is producing at maximum rate, 365 days a year--and there is still no spare capacity,' says Mark G. Papa, chief executive of EOG Resources Inc., a Houston exploration and production company. That's good news for EOG and other outfits like Anadarko Petroleum and Apache Corp. [AND BENZ ENERGY!!! <g>]. Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette Securities Corp. analyst David C. Bradshaw estimates cash flow at the exploration and production companies he tracks, which are heavily weighted toward natural gas, will jump 50% this year over 1999. Apache CEO Raymond Plank predicts his cash from operations will swell to more than $1 billion this year, from last year's record $728 million. He's devoting that surplus to more drilling, boosting his budget by 50% to $600 million. Moves like that should eventually mean more gas and lower prices for consumers. But until then, they'd better be praying for another warm winter. *********************************************************** Article in this week's BusinessWeek.