More North Sea cheer for Dana

12/05/2008 Robert Tyerman

Dana Petroleum says it has found another oil field at East Rinnes in the UK northern North Sea.

Less than a month after reporting a new oil find at West Rinnes in North Sea Block 210/24a, the fully listed company says it drilled the East Rinnes discovery well to a depth of 9,935 feet and encountered a ‘full Brent reservoir sequence’. Dana’s initial analysis suggests the oil in East Rinnes is similar to the high-quality crude discovered at West Rinnes and to the oil being produced by Dana at the nearby Hudson oil field.

West Rinnes is five km from Hudson, where Dana is operator, and only 2.5 km from the company’s Melville oil field. Chief executive Tom Cross trumpets, ‘The West and East Rinnes discoveries should lead to a substantial new oil development in this part of the North Sea and significantly increase the probability of success for Dana’s other prospects in the immediate vicinity.’

Highlighted by Growth Company Investor at 14.8p in 2000 and again at £12.78 in 2006, Dana shares have now reached £18.82p, valuing the company at £1.6 billion. Partial profit taking might be prudent, but there could still be more to go for.

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