WTI (Mar) $61.07 +$1.71, Brent (Mar) $65.88 +$1.82, Diff -$4.81 +11c.

USNG (Feb) $5.28 +23c, UKNG (Feb) 111.00p +12.96p, TTF (Feb) €41.745 +€3.605.

Oil price

Oil has drifted today, after last week’s gains, amidst the usual mix of Kazakh outage, CPC restrictions and more sanctions on Iran by the USA. The big question is, whether there will be any tighter controls, right now the country is selling way over what it should be…

And again it’s the natural gas price that has taken the headlines, Winter Storm Fern is passing through but has caused significant damage. This morning in the US Henry Hub stood at $6.20 which means that it has exactly doubled since last Monday. 

Of course the knock-on effect over here is significant, with worries about the supply of LNG from the USA, stocks are running down in Europe and so both UKNG and TTF are up over 20% week on week. And US meteorologists are predicting another storm later this week… 

Sound Energy

Sound has announced the following operational update on the Tendrara Phase I Production Concession and Anoual Exploration Permits.

Tendrara Gas Gathering System Commissioning

Further to our announcement of 8 December 2025 regarding commencement of initial commissioning activities for the TE-5 Horst development, the Operator, Mana Energy Ltd, has informed the Company that both wells (TE-6 and TE-7) have now been successfully and safely flowed to commission and their respective parts of the Gas Gathering System (GGS) tested.  The wellheads of these wells are approximately 2 km apart. The GGS consists of the wellheads, flowlines, choke valves, heat exchangers, liquid drop-out vessels and flares, so it is a major milestone to have this section of the surface facilities completed and tested in full.

Tendrara Gas Fired Power Generation

The Tendrara site has nine high-performance engines, designed to meet the operational power requirements of the site. These consist of seven 2,260 kVA gas engines and two 1,600 kVA diesel engines, all of which have been integrated into containerised systems, ensuring an uninterrupted energy supply in extreme desert conditions of up to 47 degrees Celsius. In the coming weeks, the gas-fired generators will be commissioned and tested using natural gas from one of the Tendrara Phase 1 development wells (following the separation of liquids), potentially displacing more costly diesel which will have the benefit of reducing operating costs and Scope 1 emissions.

Anoual Exploration Permits Extension

The Company is also pleased to report that the Minister for Energy Transition and Sustainable Development, and the Minister of the Economy and Finance have approved an extension to the Company’s Anoual Exploration Permits. 

The Anoual Exploration Permits (the “Exploration Permits”) cover 8,873 km2 in Eastern Morocco in which the Company holds a 27.5% non-operating interest, Morocco’s Office National des Hydrocarbures et des Mines (“ONHYM”) holds a 25% non-operating interest, and the remaining 47.5% interest is held by the Operator, Mana Energy Ltd.

As a result of these amendments the Complementary Period of the Exploration Permits has been extended to 7 September 2028 with a firm work programme commitment to drill one exploration well with a primary Triassic objective. In the event of the exploration well being successful the Operator has the option to elect to acquire a 150 km2 3D seismic dataset and drill an additional exploration well targeting the Triassic interval. Entry into the Complementary Period required relinquishing a portion of the area covered by the Exploration Permits such that the retained area covers 5,031 km2.

The Company anticipates that the operator, Mana Energy Ltd (“Mana Energy”), will fulfil its firm commitment to drill the M5 exploration well, with Sound Energy’s share of M5 well drilling costs being capped at US$2.57 million. This will be carried out by Managem S.A.

Corporate

Further to the announcement of 18 September 2025 in relation to its financial requirements for 2026 as set out in its interim financial statement, the Company continues to review its funding options and expects to update the market in due course regarding bridging finance to first gas. 

Majid Shafiq, Chief Executive Officer, commented:

“We are very encouraged by continued operational progress at Tendrara, with both TE-6 and TE-7 successfully flowed as part of the commissioning of the Gas Gathering System and look forward to the commissioning of gas fired power generation. These achievements mark another important milestone for the Phase I development and reflect strong execution by the operating team.

The approval of the extension to the Anoual Exploration Permits is very positive too, securing additional time and clarity to advance a well-defined exploration programme across a highly prospective acreage position in Eastern Morocco.”

This is good, solid progress from Sound at Tendrara where both the wells have flowed successfully and now that they are completed investors can expect commissioning and testing of the gas fired generators soon.

The savings from using gas for power generation as against expensive, shipped in diesel are important as will be the ultimate goal of first gas, expected in late Q1/Q2. Another positive is that the Anoual Exploration Permits extension have been approved which means that Mana Energy will fulfil its ‘firm commitment to drill the M5 exploration well’ and that Sound’s costs are capped at $2.57m.

So, this is good progress as Sound are getting ready to see the facility up and running and I look forward to Q2 and the sight of first gas. Although the shares are off the recent peak the 6 month performance is encouraging and the shares are worth watching.

And finally…

It was a hectic weekend in the Prem, on Saturday the Hammers beat the Black Cats, the Cottagers won against the Seagulls, the Noisy Neighbours beat Wolves and the Cherries had a last minute winner against Liverpool.

On Sunday the Bees lost to Forest, the Eagles also lost at home, to Chelsea as did the Magpies at St James’ Park to title chasing Villa and the Red Devils had another good win beating the Gooners 2-3. Tonight the Toffees host Leeds.

The Superbowl LX on the 8th February in Santa Clara, California will be between the Patriots, who beat the Broncos 10-7 in a blizzard and the Seahawks who also had a tight win against the Rams, 31-27.

Tomorrow sees the 3rd ODI against Sri Lanka in Colombo, if the pitch is like the last one the cabbages on it will have grown a bit more, start is 0900 the series currently tied 1-1.