A fairly busy week in the smallcap oil and gas sector.
Here are some highlights.
Investors in Curzon Energy Plc are looking forward to an extensive well evaluation to start shortly at the Coos Bay coal bed methane project in Oregon, US.
Curzon said in a statement this week that a five well workover programme has now been completed and that outcomes have so far "completely correlated" with the pre-programme technical work.
Sand and coal was removed from all five wellbores, and old down-hole equipment was also removed from the wells. At the same time, surface infrastructure was upgraded, which will not only enable the testing phase but also support operations in Phase 2 of the Coos Bay development.
The company said that it remains on track for first gas during the second quarter of 2018.
Meanwhile, UK Oil & Gas Investments PLC (LON:UKOG) told investors that there has been a partial conversion of loans into equity, with two investors taking up new shares in the company.
Cuart Investments PCC Ltd and YA II PN Ltd have converted a total of ?500,000 into equity, which means that 18.58mln new shares have been issued (and they will be admitted to AIM on January 15).
In other news, Indian windpower group Mytrah Energy PLC (LON:MYT) is installing generating facilities at a rapid rate.
From 1,180Mw in June, capacity is scheduled to rise1,743Mw by the middle of the year as the roll-out of new capacity carries on apace.
Mytrah's operations are spread over 30 locations and now include a first solar plant as well.
Reflecting this, first half revenues to June rose by 53% even with a transformer failure at a Government substation in Rajasthan that knocked revenue by 6%.
The start of solar operations was also a significant milestone for the company, said executive chairman Ravi Kailas, while the Indian government's adoption of auctions as the principal source of new capacity was an exciting development.
Elsewhere, SDX Energy Inc (LON:SDX, CVE:SDX) told investors that it has now put the KSR-16 well, at the Sebou project onshore Morocco, into production.
The well yielded a restricted production rate of 8.43mln cubic feet of gas per day, which is the best result of the three recent new wells at the project.
Next, the company is preparing to drill at the ONZ-7 location. Drilling operations are expected to start before the end of this week.
Paul Welch, SDX Energy chief executive, said: "This positive result on KSR-16 again exceeds our expectations for flow rates.
Mayan Energy Ltd (LON:MYN) has updated on operations in North America, where a programme of well workovers has now begun in Texas.
The programme of eight well interventions is forecast to deliver between 35 and 50 barrels of oil production per day, per well.
In a statement, the company said that the workover rig is on site at the 70%-owned Forest Hill field, and results are expected from the first workover next week. Additionally, it noted that the Gilbreath-19 well at Forest Hill remains ready for immediate production.
At the 60%-owned Kelly Lynne / Anacaho field, the company is working on the construction of a water disposal line off the Morris-1 well to an injection well, and this programme is due to complete in the next five to eight days - the company expects it will enhance the Morris-1 well, putting it in the range of 35 to 50 bopd.
Last but not least, SOCO International PLC (LON:SIA) confirmed it is evaluating a possible merger with Kuwait Energy
In a statement, the company said: "SOCO confirms that, in the context of its stated objective to strategically reshape its business and grow its portfolio, it is evaluating a potential merger of equals with Kuwait Energy.
"Discussions with Kuwait Energy's newly-constituted Board of Directors are preliminary and no transaction terms have been agreed."
"There can be no certainty that any agreement will be reached between SOCO and Kuwait Energy or its shareholders. SOCO will update the market as and when it is appropriate to do so."
The company added that it remains committed to its strategy of shareholder value creation.