After Two Dusters In Puntland in Somalia The Focus of Activity Shifts to Trinidad For Range Resources

Just over year ago Range Resources, which is quoted on the ASX and London’s AIM had the kind of profile mid-tier and small cap investors usually feel comfortable with. There is some production in Texas in the US, to keep the lights on. There was the prospect of what is known as near production in Trinidad. There was some medium risk exploration in Georgia. This all implied a decent spreading of risk. But on top of this was some high cost but potentially high -impact exploration acreage in Puntland a semi- autonomous region of Somalia. This added an edge of excitement to the portfolio since it could entail punters moving into jackpot territory.

The first project to disappoint, if not exactly come grinding to a complete halt, was in the Republic of Georgia in Central Asia. Range has a 40 per cent stake in onshore blocks VIa and VIb, covering approximately 7,000 sq km. There was some seismic and independent consultants RPS identified 68 potential structures containing an estimated undiscovered 2 billion barrels of oil- in –place. The first of two exploration wells (Mukiani-1) was spudded in July 2011. It did not work. The company is.

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