Nautical Petroleum

'Good quality hydrocarbons' in the Burgman 28/9-well in the North Sea's Catcher block and an interim turnaround are boosting AIM star Nautical Petroleum (NPE). The London-based company, which turned a £1.3m loss into a £53m pre-tax in the six months to December after selling most of its stake in the North Sea Mariner block to Norway's Statoil for £87.5m, says it has found 22 feet of net hydrocarbon pay in one part of the well, 12 feet of gas in another and 24.3-degree API oil in another.

Chief executive officer Steve Jenkins says Nautical will now drill a sidetrack well, which he suggests should confirm the presence of thicker sands 'with the potential to prove up further substantial resources on this prolific Catcher block', where the company has 15%. Nautical, which scored exploration successes in the Kraken project and discovered oil at Varadero in the same North Sea area during its first half year, ended December with almost £112m cash after raising a net £28.8m at 125p in August.

Subscribers to that placing have seen their shares soar to 441p, after trading between a year's low of 45p and a 547p high. Growth Company Investor highlighted the shares at a depressed 37.75p in 2008 and more recently suggested partial profit taking at 371p, with 'a significant chunk' retained for further growth. Hold on to that chunk.