Nautical hits water, not oil

The Mermaid field in the North Sea is living up to its name. Nautical Petroleum’s latest well there found a mermaid’s paradise but, sadly, no oil. The cost of the well, £1.5 million, will now be written off. Despite the positive news from the previous drilling, on Kraken, this was enough to send the shares down from their recent 12.5p high to 9.5p at one time. They finished the week at 11.25p. That compares with a recommendation level here in September of 10p. With further drilling to come on the Grenade find in January and North Sea block 8/25 in the spring, Nautical remains a hold.