MNAP
Wow and holy cow were all the words we could conjure up on July 11, 2007 when shares of Manas Petroleum (MNAP) plunged from an intraday high of $6.30 per share to a low of $3.15. We have no idea what happened and thought maybe someone discovered a way to convert water into oil thus destabilizing the energy world. It was a pretty wild ride watching Manas close that crazy day at $4.10 per share and then rallying the next two days to end the week at $5.15 per share.
Dropping 50% in one day and then rallying 63.4% in two days defines the word volatility. We knew that at some point there would be a pull back in Manas but we didn’t expect a pull back and rebound within three days. If readers are looking for excitement then Manas has done more than cause a few heart murmurs.
Throughout this chaos Manas did make a major announcement. On Thursday July 12, Manas announced that it has been awarded an exploration license by the Tajikistan government. The license contains a number of prospects and leads determined by Soviet seismic acquisition in the 1970s and 1980s. The big deal is that Manas currently has an MOU (memorandum of understanding) with a major oil company regarding the farm-out of an interest in the entire Manas/Tajikistan license (press release). There are no guarantees regarding the outcome but discussions continue to advance regarding the details of a final binding agreement.
This new license comes on the heels of Manas Petroleum obtaining six exploration licenses covering 3,152 square kilometers in Kyrgyzstan. Santos Oil, a $5.5 billion dollar Australian company, will be spending $60 million dollars on an exploration and development program on these properties. We don’t know who Manas is talking to for the Tajikistan properties but hopefully the MOU turns into a binding agreement. If that happens then depending on the dollar amount of the farm out and who the partner is, a major catalyst could be coming in the near term.
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