Resource round-up: Forum Energy, Berkeley Resources, Jupiter Energy, Hardy Oil & Gas

UK oil and gas firm Forum Energy has confirmed its natural gas discovery at Recto Bank in the disputed South China Sea contains more reserves than initially thought. In an announcement to the Philippines Stock Exchange earlier, Philex Petroleum Corp said Forum had a report that "is expected to show an improvement in the resources previously known". Forum said the report would be shown to the board later this week. The ownership of the territory is currently disputed by China and the Philippines.

Uranium producer Berkeley Resources announced encouraging results from initial drilling at its Villares Prospect, located about 7km north of the Retortillo deposit in Spain. "These initial results confirm the presence of shallow high grade mineralisation at Villares and show the potential to identify additional uranium resources in outcropping and covered areas within proximity to the Retortillo and Santidad deposits'" the firm said.

Jupiter Energy, the Kazakhstan-focused oil exploration and production company, said trial production of oil had begun at its J-50 and J-52 wells in the country. The news pushed its shares up over 8% in morning trading. Aggregated daily production from the sites was initially expected to be around 600 barrels of oil per day, the firm said. Jupiter is finalising sales agreements with at least two local traders and said it expected to announce details of these contracts shortly.

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Hardy Oil & Gas has agreed a plan to relinquish the D9 Exploration Block offshore India after tests showed the block's hydrocarbon potential was low and further exploration or appraisal activity was unwarranted. Hardy owns a 10% stake in the block. It said its D3 exploration licence, located in the Krishna Godavari Basin, remained the main focus for our organic growth potential. The firm's shares fell 1% following the announcement.

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