STOCK WATCH

SHARES in Russian oil and gas explorer Petroneft soared as it hit the jackpot.

It said flow rates from its C-4 well in the licence 67 area of the Cheremshanskoye field were ‘very encouraging’, making shares surge 12.5pc, or 0.18p, to 1.58p.

Licence 67 is in the Tomsk region of Siberia. Petroneft owns half of the asset, while Arawak Energy – part of energy company Vitol – owns the other half. This was the first well drilled by Petroneft with the help of 3D seismic data.