Gulfsands Petroleum
There is a further intriguing spin on the Gulfsands story and that is the stake-building by both Michael Kroupeev (the Russian oil financier who has amassed a stake of 18% of the shares in the past few months) and also Soyuzneftegaz (a group headed by Yuri Shafranik, Russia’s former energy minister) that has picked up 3.4%. Clearly these boys see value and they each have prior ‘form’. I am minded to follow them and will shortly commence building a holding in Gulfsands Petroleum — adding on any weakness below 100p, particularly as rumours of predatory takeover interest by CNOOC (China National Offshore Oil Corporation) has sporadically broken out in recent months.
Finally, to whet the investment appetite even further, reflect upon the situation in April 2010 where Gulfsands received an unsolicited bid proposal from Oil India Ltd & Indian Oil Corp Ltd at a price of 315p (nearly 3 times the current price) that was unanimously rejected as undervaluing the company at that time. Should political signs of stabilisation and or Government change in Syria become apparent, then I fail to see how the shares cannot re-rate or alternately be swooped upon by a predator.
June 2012 | www.financial-spread-betting.com | 63