CALGARY - WesternZagros Resources Ltd. shares (TSXV:WZR) rose 12 per cent as the most active TSX Venture Exchange issue Friday after the Calgary-based oil and gas developer reported progress on its exploration work in the Kurdish region of Iraq.
WesternZagros noted late Thursday that it spudded its initial well, Sarqala-1, on May 8 "without any serious safety or security incidents."
The company also confirmed that recent talks with Iraqi government officials in Baghdad produced "significant progress" toward long-term solutions with the Kurdistan regional government.
The Sarqala-1 well targets four potential reservoir zones to a depth of 4,800 metres. It is expected to take 120 to-0 days to drill, as the first well in what is envisaged as a three-year exploration program.
WesternZagros, which keeps its accounts in U.S. dollars, said capital spending in the first quarter was $26.6 million, up from $5.8 million a year earlier.
The company, with no current production or reserves, held $157.8 million in cash and cash equivalents at March 31, and its budget for 2008 is $78 million.
Its net loss in the January-March quarter was $1.8 million, compared with a year-ago loss of $2.2 million.
WesternZagros shares - which the company itself regards as highly speculative because Iraq's "political, economic, and other uncertainties" are piled on to the normal risks of oil and gas exploration - were up 30 cents at C$2.75 Friday afternoon, with a 52-week range between $4.25 and $1.90.
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