WTI (Sep) $84.67 +$1.08, Brent (Oct)* $87.93 +$2.20, Diff -$3.26 +$2.18*
USNG (Sep) $2.75 -1c, UKNG (Sep) 140.71p -1.37p, TTF (Sep) €57.67 -€0.445.
*Denotes expiry of Brent September contract.
Oil price
It’s TACO time again as Trump declares that negotiations with Iran will start again today after lobbying from Iran and the friendly Gulf states, at the same time he has called of the significant strikes planned for the weekend.
This morning prices are not surprisingly down, WTI by $5.10 and Brent by $4.30 after the September expiry. Expect the usual shenanigans but it looks like Iran have had a right result here, Trump showing his weakness again. If Iranians did Christmas, and most don’t celebrate it, this would make them think it was a gift for them as yet again they have pulled off a blinder…
Opec+ met and as forecast here added the 188/- b/d back into the market from September, thus completing the reversal of the 1.63m b/d from 2023. It is clearly obvious that quotas are of no significance at all right now and expect the cartel to make a decision for next year when they meet in December. They will hope that they have a clean sheet of paper to work from then…
The Baker Hughes rig count on Friday showed that overall the number of units rose by just 1 to 588 and oil also added 1 to 451 units, they are up respectively by 44 and 41 units year on year.
Just a reminder for those who might have been away that the interim update of the Bucket List was published on Friday, you can check it out at www.malcysblog.com or on social media.
Prospex Energy
Prospex has provided the following Q2 overview and unaudited quarterly cash-flow update for the Prospex group of companies, including Group cash balances under the Company’s direct control at June 30th, additions to investments and receipts from gas sales for the second quarter of 2026.
Q2 2026 Overview
Cash
· £1,203,000 of gas sales revenue from Selva Malvezzi reflecting higher European gas prices since March.
· The Group closed Q2 with £852,000 (Q1 2026: £907,000) in cash after paying initial licence fees for newly awarded licences in Poland and settling Selva 2025 production royalty and tax obligations.
Romeral
· Electricity generation revenue at Romeral continues to increase following a series of extended production tests and strengthening electricity prices. This has reduced Tarba’s net monthly funding requirement, with the reduction expected to continue into Q3. In parallel, we continue to engage with the Spanish government to advance permitting.
· The Company entered into a strategic collaboration agreement with the IMMAGE (Investigating Miocene Mediterranean-Atlantic Gateway Exchange) Land-2-Sea drilling project to recover cores from the wells to be drilled by Prospex within the five well programme which is currently awaiting permits. The coring is funded by the International Continental Scientific Drilling Program (ICDP).
Viura
· During the quarter, operator HEYCO Energy Iberia advanced the dynamic reservoir model and defined several development scenarios for further drilling activity in 2027.
Poland
· Wholly owned Polish subsidiary, PXEN Tatra Sp. z o.o. was awarded, and accepted, the San and Dunajec licences in Poland. These offer both medium-term gas exploration potential and near-term cash-generative oil development potential in the Mniszów oil resource.
Corporate
· Satisfactory completion of 2025 audit and Annual General Meeting (“AGM”) requirements. An extensive review of the Group’s cost base and ongoing active measures were put in place to minimise costs, whilst identifying and developing assets and strengths.
· Simon Ashby-Rudd was appointed as non-executive director, bringing significant capital markets and acquisitions expertise. Andrew Hay, who has served as a non-executive director of the Company since 2024, did not stand for re-election at the Company’s AGM and stepped down from the board.
· Creation of full potential modelling for each asset and the associated investment cases in support of engagement with prospective partners and investors.
· Ongoing review of potential new investments with self-funding and near-term cash-generative potential.
Prospex Energy Group – Unaudited | |||||||
| |||||||
2026 |
| 2025 | |||||
ALL GBP 000’s |
| YTD Total |
| Q2 | Q1 |
| Total |
| £000’s | £000’s | £000’s | £000’s | |||
Note | |||||||
Group Cash on Hand at Beginning of period | 1 | 42 | 907 | 42 | 1,192 | ||
Share of Gross Operating Revenue | 2 | 2,115 | 1,203 | 912 | 3,798 | ||
Tarba Cash Take-on in acquisition | – | – | – | 332 | |||
Equity Raise Proceeds Net of costs | – | – | – | 1,118 | |||
Debt Raise Cash Proceeds net of costs | 3 | 1,355 | – | 1,355 | 378 | ||
Interest and other financing receipts | 112 | 83 | 29 | 122 | |||
Total Group Cash Receipts |
| 3,583 | 1,286 | 2,297 | 5,749 | ||
OPEX | 4 | 1,349 | 547 | 802 | 2,303 | ||
Development Costs | 5 | 301 | 1 | 300 | 593 | ||
Investments – Tarba Acquisition | – | – | – | 474 | |||
Investments – Interest bearing loans to Tarba | 6 | 558 | 267 | 292 | 748 | ||
Investments – Viura | – | – | – | 2,003 | |||
Debt Servicing and Repayments | – | – | – | – | |||
Royalties, taxes and license fees | 7 | 564 | 526 | 38 | 778 | ||
Total Group Cash Outgoings |
| 2,772 | 1,341 | 1,432 | 6,899 | ||
Group Cash on Hand at End of period |
| 852 | 852 | 907 | 42 | ||
1 | Group cash represents the cash resources within the Company’s control and therefore excludes any cash balances held by HEYCO Energy Iberia, in which Prospex owns 7.5%, and funds held in guarantee deposits. |
2 | Gross operating revenues only include receipts into group entities under Prospex control and therefore excludes Viura. |
3 | Debt raise proceeds are shown net of costs & any pre-existing debt satisfied by issuance of CLNs. |
4 | OPEX includes direct operating expenditure corresponding to Prospex’s net share of Selva Malvezzi, as well as Prospex overhead and administration costs. |
5 | Development costs in 2026 primarily relate to seismic processing on Selva Malvezzi. |
6 | Tarba Energia Opex, net of electricity sales, is supported while the activity to deliver drilling permits on El Romeral is progressing. |
7 | Q2 2026 includes £177k new permit fees in Poland. |
Selva Malvezzi
Continued safe and reliable production from the Podere Maiar-1 (PM-1) gas field
· Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) lodged with Italy’s Ministry of Environment and Energy Security (MASE) for the proposed four-well drilling programme and related development within the Selva Malvezzi Production Concession; representing a significant permitting milestone.
· Data processing of the recently completed 3D seismic survey continued during the quarter, supporting optimal well placement and future field development planning, including the Podere Maiar 1 gas field production area.
· Strong realised gas prices of €0.48/scm, benefiting from supportive European gas market fundamentals amid ongoing energy security concerns.
Selva Malvezzi financial highlights
PM-1 Production Data | June 2026 Quarter | Mar 2026 Quarter | Dec 2025 Quarter |
Q2 2026 | Q1-2026 | Q4 2025 | |
Average gross daily production rate (scm) | 77,127 | 80,687 | 79,220 |
Quarterly net (37%) production (‘000 scm) | 2,597 | 2,686.90 | 2,579.40 |
Weighted average price (per scm) | € 0.48 | € 0.43 | € 0.33 |
37% Revenue net to Prospex (‘000)* | € 1,255 | € 1,155 | € 852 |
*Note: revenue net to Prospex in the quarter will differ from cash receipts presented in the unaudited cashflow analysis due to timing of payments received
Poland
Historical data was gathered and integrated to provide a clear view of the potentially recoverable resource at the Mniszów oil discovery. This increased the Company’s view of the asset’s potential to 3.7 mmbbl of recoverable oil and supported the case presented within the Full Potential analysis at the AGM in June.
El Romeral, Spain
Over the quarter, a series of production tests were conducted to better understand the well’s ability to support increased generation activity. This has increased generation from 4 hours per day to 15 hours per day during late June and July following the end of the quarter.
Combined with higher electricity prices, revenue generated at Tarba increased from c. €20,000 in April 2026 to c. €73,000 in June 2026. This has significantly reduced the need for Prospex support, freeing cash for investment in other assets. The manufacture of the new transformer is complete and it will be installed in September, replacing the rental unit and reducing overheads further at Tarba.
Viura, Spain
During the quarter, operator HEYCO Energy Iberia advanced the dynamic reservoir model and defined several development scenarios. The production strategy was set to maximise cash generation by taking advantage of high gas prices.
Viura Production Summary | Jun ’26 | May ’26 | April ’26 | Q1 2026 |
Sales Gas Nm3 | 1,959,552 | 2,973,296 | 843,966 | 10,500,000 |
Sales Gas MWhr | 26,592* | 39,644 | 11,660 | 112,000 |
Condensate m3 | 88 | 142 | 40 | 446 |
Condensate bbl | 553 | 892 | 248 | 2,805 |
Water m3 | 7,656 | 7,099 | 2,276 | 16,645 |
*June sales gas expressed in MWhr is estimated, pending confirmation
Tom Reynolds, Prospex’s CEO, commented:
“I am pleased to provide shareholders with an overview of Q2 2026 activities, including unaudited Group cash-flow figures for the period. During Q2, we reevaluated our investment portfolio, made significant progress on each asset, and conducted detailed analysis of the investment options available to us.
“During the quarter, strong European gas prices have supported higher levels of cash generation at Selva Malvezzi. We have also seen higher wholesale electricity prices for Tarba, where the team worked diligently through Q2 to increase total generation time and minimise costs. This has increased Tarba’s net revenue, reduced the monthly cash requirement and freed up cash for other assets.
“On Mniszów, significant work has been carried out by the team to understand and estimate the in-place resources and identify potential technical solutions to efficiently access those resources. I believe this asset offers a near-term opportunity to introduce partnership capital to fund initial well work.
“The AGM provided an opportunity to demonstrate the full potential of the Prospex portfolio, which I believe will strengthen our ongoing discussions with prospective funding and strategic partners. To support this process, and as indicated at the AGM, we will run a series of asset-focused online presentations beginning in September providing a detailed review of each asset.”
This is an excellent update from Prospex, it has been another busy quarter with much progress having been made both across the portfolio operationally and from a management ‘reevaluation’ point of view.
I really like that the combination of performance by local management and favourable electricity prices have made a meaningful impact at both Tarba and Romeral which feeds directly into a lower call on Prospex, thus releasing capacity for other things.
Elsewhere a similarly strong cash generation at Selva has created both reserves and optionality, this has been a direct result of higher European gas prices which are obviously beneficial across the board.
Finally in the portfolio it is good to see that significant work has been carried out by the team on Mniszów enabling deeper understanding and an increased estimation of the in-place resources and, importantly, the ability to ‘identify potential technical solutions to efficiently access those resources’. Tom Reynolds clearly believes that the Polish prospect offers ‘a near-term opportunity to introduce partnership capital to fund initial well work’.
With Prospex now formally in the updated Bucket List and my new target price of 20p looking perfectly achievable I think that the shares should outperform significantly from the current 2.9p level. The management is totally focused on shareholder interaction and specifically on preparing the ground to introduce meaningful partnerships at the asset level.
Europa Oil & Gas
Europa provided an update on Friday regarding the binding Farm-out Agreement signed by its associated company, Antler Global Limited and Fuhai (Beijing) Energy Limited, a wholly owned subsidiary company of the privately owned Fuhai Group New Energy Holding Co., Ltd to farm-out a 40% interest in the EG-08 production sharing contract in offshore Equatorial Guinea.
Further to the announcement regarding the FOA to Fuhai on 22nd June 2026, the Company reports that the Longstop Date for completion of the transaction has, by mutual agreement, been extended to 31 August 2026.
The deal has received approval from the Ministry for Mining and Hydrocarbons Department of Equatorial Guinea (“MMHD”), as announced on 29 May 2026, and remains subject to Outbound Direct Investment (“ODI”) approval from the Beijing Municipal Development and Reform Commission. Europa understands that the various government approvers remain satisfied with the ODI application and expects to receive this approval in the coming weeks. This approval is taking longer than expected but it is noted that on 1st July 2026 new Chinese regulations on outbound investment came into effect. These regulations are intended to support overseas expansion, particularly investments aligned with the Belt and Road Initiative (such as Equatorial Guinea), while giving Chinese authorities stronger powers to scrutinise transactions. As such applications now generally have longer approval timelines but are expected to improve going forward.
Europa has a 42.9% equity interest in Antler which, on completion of the FOA, will hold a 40% working interest in the EG-08 PSC, and remain as operator, with 40% held by Fuhai and the remaining 20% held by GEPetrol (Guinea Equatorial de Petróleos), the national oil company of Equatorial Guinea, representing the State’s interest.
The Company expects to drill the Barracuda-1 well at the earliest opportunity, which is expected to be during early 2027.
William Holland, Chief Executive Officer of Europa, said:
“Although these new regulations mean that timelines remain subject to a degree of uncertainty, I remain confident that we will receive ODI approval in the coming weeks and that the further extension of the Longstop Date reflects the practical timing required to finalise the remaining approval and complete the legal procedures of the farm-out to Fuhai. Despite this delay we continue to make good progress with our preparations for drilling which remains on track for an early 2027 spud date.”
Whilst the headline of a further extension and inevitable delay initially looks worrying I think that CEO Will Holland has remained calm and feels that the ODI approval will be received ‘in the coming weeks’ thus meaning that the spud date of early 2027 has not changed.
EOG shares have been a great performer reflecting the significant potential of the Barracuda-1 well which, if successful, would transform the company. So for the time being at least shareholders can sleep easily, at least until early 2027….
And finally…
Gianni Infantino has certainly bitten off more than he can chew here but to think that he is on his way is to seriously underestimate the cockroach like nature of the self-seeking, odious sporting administrators who have never been happy to give up their gilded lifestyles, a bunch of talentless overpaid jobsworths indeed.
St Johnstone sit at the top of the SPL after the first weekend but Celtic play tonight so Saints fans take a picture right now…
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