Source: Mr. George Mangion¸ PKF Malta

The subject of energy generation and its financial burden on our economy has spurned PKF to participate in a conference in London organized by Master Investor 2013¸ which is UK’s leading investment focusing on many industries  including the oil and gas sector. This was held last Saturday 27th April in central London.

The agenda brought together many experts including investment advisers senior company officials¸ oil and gas corporate leaders¸ financiers including global energy experts from around the globe who during the day shared their knowledge and experience on many investment opportunities. The show is now in its 11^th year and attracted over 2¸500 attendees giving investors unique insights on country specific opportunities.

PKF was represented by the undersigned and together with a top representative from the oil exploration division directorate within the Ministry of Infrastructure gave a presentation in Rising Stars Stage. The topic chosen by PKF was the attractive opportunities being offered by Malta government to qualifying investors wishing to risk capital to explore for oil and gas in seven different regions within the Maltese continental shelf. Readers may think the subject is a taboo since the island has been unsuccessful in its efforts to drill for hydrocarbons in the past sixty years so why is there any optimism now? The answer is that technology has advanced exponentially since 2002 when the last drill bit was submerged to test our luck in the deep waters and this now includes powerful 3D seismic tests and intelligent drilling software which has a better chance to locate the so called black gold. The battle cry is – can Malta become a potential oil and gas hub (joining Cyprus¸ Sicily¸ Tunisia¸ Morocco etc) and in the medium term reap dividends from production sharing agreements once oil or gas is found in commercial quantities. During a recessionary period that is gripping European countries it stands to reason that any extra tax revenue from any such windfalls can ideally be placed aside in a special fund to honour our commitments primarily to repay debts¸ render our budgets in surplus and start building up our pension’s deficit.

	Mr George M. Mangion’s speach Master Investor Show

Back to the Master Investor Show¸ a number of speakers urged equity investors to exploit the current capitulation in the price of commodities such as gold but also a drop in oil price by buying resource stocks. Following investor feedback from previous editions of Master Investor¸ the organizers decided that this year it was due for a revamp and include an increased sector focus¸ allowing attendees to gain in-depth knowledge of companies across the Oil & Gas