Changing Lanes: Here are October’s top 10 oil & gas small caps

Oil prices surrendered most of the gains made in the latter half of October after China released weak industrial data and doubts were raised about a potential trade deal being reached between the US and China.

China’s National Bureau of Statistics said on Thursday that the country’s Purchasing Managers’ Index, a measure of the prevailing direction of economic trends in manufacturing, fell to 49.3 in October from 49.8 in September.

Economic growth also slowed to a near 30-year low of 6 per cent in the third quarter.

Questions have also been raised about whether US and China trade talks will go through, with Bloomberg reporting that Chinese officials had low expectations for future negotiations unless the US was willing to roll back more tariffs.

The benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude price is currently at $US54.34 ($78.67) per barrel, down from the top of $US56.66 it reached in October and barely above the $US53.62 it began the month at.

October Oil Prices – Brent Crude in White, WTI in Orange

So who were some of the biggest oil and gas gainers in the small cap space in October?

#1 Empire Energy Group (ASX:EEG) +97%

Empire Energy Group completed its exit from Kansas at the end of September and used the bulk of the sales proceeds to slash its debts and fund its upcoming work programs in the Beetaloo Basin of the Northern Territory.

The company has kicked off a 2D seismic survey that will be used to optimise the selection of surface drilling locations for its 2020 exploration drilling program.

The Beetaloo Basin is considered to be highly prospective for large shale oil and gas resources with major companies Origin Energy (ASX:ORG) and Santos (ASX:STO) carrying out exploration work.

Empire Energy also retains its cash flow positive Appalachia gas production assets, and all of its interest in the Marcellus and Utica Shale acreage which underlies the New York State gas production.

#2 Ansila Energy (ASX:ANA) +61%

Ansila’s progress on its Poland oil and gas concessions is finding favour with investors who are clearly more than a little pleased with the pace that the company is setting.

It is already carrying out site preparation works on the Siciny-2 gas well, while re-entry of the well and the subsequent two stage frack will be carried out in November.

This will in turn lead to well testing in December to assess its commercial potential.

Ansila is earning up to a 35 per cent interest in the Gora and Nowa Sol concessions in Poland from Gemini by spending a total of $6.1m on fracture stimulation and testwork.

Here are the top 10 oil and gas small caps for the month of October.

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Code	Name	Price 1 October	Price (1pm Friday)	1 Month % Return	Market Cap
EEG	EMPIRE ENERGY GROUP LTD	0.19	0.38	97	$89.0M
ANA	ANSILA ENERGY NL	0.023	0.037	61	$18.0M
XST	XSTATE RESOURCES LTD	0.002	0.003	50	$3.4M
TMK	TAMASKA OIL & GAS LTD	0.005	0.007	40	$5.5M
SGC	SACGASCO LTD	0.027	0.036	33	$9.7M
CRM	CARBON MINERALS LTD	0.13	0.17	31	$3.2M
IPB	IPB PETROLEUM LTD	0.022	0.028	27	$6.4M
KEY	KEY PETROLEUM LTD	0.006	0.0075	25	$12.6M
TSC	TWENTY SEVEN CO LTD	0.004	0.005	25	$6.1M
TPD	TALON PETROLEUM LTD	0.0025	0.003	20	$5.3M