Ottoman Energy recently acquired some promising acreage in the Philippines, but managing director Jaap Poll maintained the company would still be focusing primarily on Turkey.

Through 100% owned Turkish subsidiary Edirne Enerji, Ottoman has an 80% interest in three onshore petroleum licences in the Thrace Basin, located in western Turkey in the country's European portion.

Funds from the capital raising will be used to explore these petroleum exploration projects and provide capital for identifying new ventures, said Ottoman managing director Jaap Poll.

"The Thrace Basin, which currently contains 35 discovered gas fields, has a fairly simple sedimentary and structural framework, proven source rocks, good reservoirs and a variety of undrilled structures - all key ingredients in an exploration area with considerable remaining potential," Poll said.

"The region also offers low labour and operational costs, and prices for natural gas are significantly higher than in Australia. Add to this Ottoman's unique position as one of only two publicly listed companies operating in the Thrace Basin and our planned exploration projects have the capability to deliver strong returns for the company and its shareholders."

The company was busy identifying likely targets for the mid-year drilling program.

Edirne, Ottoman’s primary project in the region, is surrounded by existing gas fields and has several undrilled seismic structures with amplitude and geochemical anomalies. The joint venture is considering carrying out some seismic to prioritise prospects before drilling in the third quarter of 2005.

The region’s good infrastructure coupled with a hungry, nearby energy market and gas prices considerably higher than those of Australia means any success by Ottoman could quickly be turned into cash flow.

Poll said that through the development of joint venture relationships with local Turkish companies Merty and Petrako, Ottoman has also been able to establish an effective, professional and low-cost operating base and representative office in Ankara.

“This is the key to effective overseas operations and we are doing the same in the Philippines,” he said.

The company’s aim is to achieve early cash flow from Edirne and its Filipino assets and use those funds to sustain ongoing exploration at the company’s other projects in these countries.

At present, Ottoman’s existing cash reserves of $3.5 million will be sufficient to fund its planned Turkish commitments, while a $1.535 million placement to strategic investors introduced by the consortium and Max Capital will get the ball rolling in the Philippines, Poll said.

Meanwhile, the former Amity Oil is well and truly back in action as Antares Energy using production from its Turkey operations feeding its emerging US oil and gas ambitions.

The company was struggling only two years ago, but its latest half-yearly accounts show the Perth-based gas producer is now in a strong position, with steady growth in production and reserves funded through revenue rather than capital raisings.

“We have $15 million cash in hand and no debt,” executive director James Cruickshank told EnergyReview.net.

“Our Turkish assets are providing steady cash flow, so the company can grow without having to dilute our stock,” he said.

“We are steadily acquiring more acreage, drilling more wells, increasing our production and adding to our reserves base. We are doing this from organic revenue – we are not raising capital and we are not issuing stock.”

Amity was battling for several years following its float in late 1994. It had several Australian and overseas petroleum prospects, but failed to find or develop a sizeable oil or gas field until 2000 when it discovered gas at the Gocerler-1 well in Turkey.

Amity went on to develop Gocerler and two other Turkish gas fields, Adatepe and Cayirdere, but the company’s wealth was being swallowed by attempts to develop the Whicher Range gas field near Margaret River, Western Australia, and its finances remained marginal.

The turnaround started in July 2003 when Amity appointed Canadian-born oil and gas veteran Howard McLaughlin as chief executive officer and managing director.

McLaughlin, with 28 years experience in the oil patch, had previously been BHP Billiton Petroleum’s vice president global exploration out of Houston, Texas.

When he joined Amity, McLaughlin had a commitment to drill one well at Whicher Range.

“We drilled it and fracture treated it, and couldn’t make it work,” he said.

“We decided to move away from Whicher Range, which had been a drag on the company for eight years, and get our Turkish assets up and running.”

As the company changed its focus, it also changed its board and much of its senior staff and appointed a new chairman. In November 2004, it changed its name to Antares Energy (Australian Stock Exchange code AZZ), the name of its US subsidiary, to reflect its new objective of establishing a substantial US oil and gas business.

Antares has developed its Turkish gas fields while also pursuing growth opportunities in the lucrative US gas market.

In the half year ended December 31 2004, Antares had an operating profit of $8.2m, despite a $2.9m write-down of Whicher Range that drew the line under that ill-fated project once and for all. This profit was up 15% on the previous six months and the EBITDAX of $6.2m was up 5% on the previous half.

Growth would have been stronger if a major Turkish client had not cut back its take of Antares’ gas for several months in order to meet prior obligations to another gas supplier.

“One major customer cut its take by half over a three-month period, which reduced our sales temporarily, but we responded by finding an additional new customer, and now the old customer has also returned and sales are back to normal,” McLaughlin said.

The Turkish gas is sold domestically into a market that has high gas prices. The company has 14 producing wells operating in Turkey and an inventory of attractive exploration prospects generated from 3D seismic. But while the company’s revenue base is in Turkey, future growth will largely come from its US assets, according to McLaughlin.

“Our Turkish producing assets are mature and stable, with additional exploration upside,” McLaughlin said. “They are a platform for launching our high-growth operations in the US.”