Monday's oil and gas news was dominated by a landmark cross-border deal, a wartime hit to offshore support operations, and steady regulatory progress at an Italian gas field. Kistos Holdings secured Royal Decree confirming its entry into Oman, doubling its production and reserves base at a stroke, while Gulf Marine Services swung to a first-half loss after conflict in the Gulf forced the evacuation of vessels and triggered an impairment charge. Prospex Energy, meanwhile, cleared an environmental hurdle for its Selva Malvezzi drilling plans against a backdrop of record monthly revenue.
Kistos completes $148m Oman entry via Royal Decree
Kistos Holdings (AIM:KIST) has received Royal Decree from the Sultanate of Oman confirming legal ownership of Blocks 3 & 4 onshore Oman has passed to the company, clearing the final regulatory hurdle in its acquisition of the blocks, along with Block 9, from Mitsui E&P Middle East. The deal marks Kistos' first material push into the MENA region, a significant departure from its existing North Sea and Eastern Mediterranean asset base, and comes as shares trade at 310.0p, up 2.479%.
The combined acquisition, worth $148m with an effective date of 1 January 2025, adds 25.6m barrels of oil equivalent of 2P reserves and lifts 2025 production by roughly 9,000 to 10,000 boepd, mostly liquids, at an acquisition value of approximately $5.80 per barrel of oil equivalent. Formal completion of the sale and purchase agreement will follow shortly to finalise accounting adjustments for the period since signing, while Block 9 completion proceeds on a separate timeline reflecting its distinct exploration and production sharing agreement framework. Kistos expects the transaction to be immediately cash-generative.
"Royal Decree on Blocks 3 & 4 marks Kistos' official entry into the MENA region, with the overall transaction with Mitsui in Oman doubling the Company's current production and 2P reserves, providing geographical diversification to our portfolio and a platform for further growth," said Andrew Austin, Executive Chairman of Kistos.
The scale of the shift is notable: doubling production and 2P reserves in a single transaction reshapes Kistos from a North Sea-and-Mediterranean gas producer into a genuinely diversified independent with a foothold in one of the lowest-cost onshore oil regions in the world. At $5.80 per barrel of oil equivalent, the acquisition value looks inexpensive relative to the reserves added, and the immediate cash generation gives management room to fund further growth without straining the balance sheet. With Royal Decree secured, the remaining execution risk narrows to completing the Block 9 EPSA process and integrating operations across a new jurisdiction.
Gulf Marine Services swings to loss on Gulf conflict impact
Gulf Marine Services (LSE:GMS), which operates a fleet of self-propelled, self-elevating support vessels for the offshore industry, swung to a net loss of $14.8m in the first half of 2026, against a net profit of $3.9m a year earlier, as shares edged up 0.22% to 18.56p. Adjusted revenue fell 3% to $84.1m after conflict in the Gulf forced the temporary evacuation of four vessels in March, an event the company estimates cut $11.6m from revenue.
Gross profit collapsed to $2.0m from $35.9m, driven largely by a $22.7m impairment on property and equipment tied to the regional conflict, while adjusted EBITDA slipped 14% to $43.8m. Average fleet utilisation fell to 75% from 87%, though average day rates rose 7% to $37.4k on new contracts struck at improved terms. The company also acquired a new mid-class vessel in January, part-funded by a $37.4m bridge loan since merged into existing bank facilities, which lifted net leverage to 1.75x. "The first half of the year was significantly impacted by disruptions resulting from the war in the Gulf, but our core business remains strong with improved average day rates and higher backlogs," said Mansour Al Alami, Executive Chairman.
The results underline how geopolitical disruption, rather than underlying demand, drove the swing to loss, utilisation and gross profit were hit hard by the vessel evacuations and the associated impairment, yet day rates and backlogs improved, suggesting the commercial market for support vessels remains tight. The rise in net leverage to 1.75x bears watching, but with rates strengthening on new contracts, the operational recovery looks more a function of when vessels return to full deployment than of any structural weakness in demand.
Prospex clears EIA hurdle for Selva four-well drilling plan
Prospex Energy (AIM:PXEN), the AIM-quoted investment company focused on European gas and power projects, said Italy's Ministry of Environment and Energy Security has declared admissible the environmental impact assessment for its planned four-well drilling programme at the Selva Malvezzi field, opening a 60-day public observation period. Shares rose 11.34% to 5.4p on the update, which chief executive Tom Reynolds paired with news of record monthly gross revenue of €795,800 across the portfolio.
At Selva Malvezzi, August gas sales achieved a realised price of €0.67 per standard cubic metre, generating gross revenue of €1.67m, of which €618,000 was net to Prospex's 37% working interest in the field, operated by Po Valley Operations, a subsidiary of ASX-listed Po Valley Energy, which holds the remaining 63%. A new 12-month gas sales agreement with Hera Trading begins on 1 October, while Schlumberger Italy has delivered preliminary 3D seismic data that will be interpreted to firm up drilling locations ahead of the four-well programme.
The EIA admissibility decision moves Selva Malvezzi a concrete step closer to drilling, though the 60-day observation window means final regulatory clearance remains some months away. In the meantime, record monthly revenue and rising realised gas prices give Prospex a stronger cash-generating base from which to fund the upcoming campaign, while the incoming Hera Trading contract locks in offtake terms for the next year.