UPDATE

its crown is a 38 per cent stake in a vast gas field in Algeria, Ain Tsila, which will start producing some time after 2017.

There are exploration assets, too but recent results have been poor, including last week’s news that wells in Iraqi Kurdistan, Egypt and Romania have failed to deliver. Chief executive Brian O’Cathain is confident a second Kurdish well will yield promising results but some investors are running out of patience.

O’Cathain announced a $100 million share placing two weeks ago,