Small caps round-up: Europa Oil, Stellar Diamonds

14th Dec 2010 11:34

Europa Oil & Gas has packed up its things at the Barchiz-1 oil discovery in Romania after finding the lower part of an oil column with some mud and water.Mountain winter conditions have also convinced the explorer to stop work and come back in the spring when it may try a full flow test of the well, and/or a possible up-dip sidetrack. "The evidence from the Barchiz well suggests it was drilled on the edge of a Geamana-style oil accumulation," explained managing director Paul Barrett.West Africa-focused Stellar Diamonds trimmed full-year losses to £5.6m from £9.6m following the reverse takeover of AIM-listed West African Diamonds in February.Shares in Russia-focused oil and gas explorer and producer Matra Petroleum jumped after it said that it has contracted a suitable rig to undertake operations at on of its wells. Elsewhere in oil and gas, Infrastrata fell after the gas storage group reported a bigger loss in the year to July 31.Pre-tax losses widened to £374,000 from £213,000 over the same period the previous year. The company does not generate any revenues yet.Infrastrata is developing a gas storage project in Dorset which it says together with another project it is developing in Northern Ireland could account for 10% of Britain and Ireland's total peak gas demand,.Private & Commercial Finance, which provides financial services to consumers and businesses, said conditions remain challenging as it posted a rise in profits in the six months to 30 September. Mobile content software 2ergo's full year results are in line with expectations with revenues of £21.4 coming in slightly below last year's £22.7m. However, the group recorded a pre-tax loss of £0.8m compared with a profit of £0.6m previously. Operating expenses also increased from £7.3m to £11.2m as a result of "investment to capitalise on the significant opportunities for growth within the mobile market", the group says. 2ergo adds that the board "anticipates that significant returns will start to be generated in the 2011 financial year."Shares in Clean Air Power fell after the group announced that the delay of a new gas facility in Tasmania means it is too late in the current year to have any significant impact on sales. As a result, revenues for the year ending 31 December will be significantly below market expectations.However the company, which develops technology to enable diesel engines to operate on a combination of diesel and natural gas, says it is confident that prospects for 2011 in this area are very promising.