IGAS Energy Plc (LON:IGAS) advanced 4p or 4.94% changing hands at 85p each as unlisted UK onshore peer Cuadrilla successfully completed the drilling of the country's first horizontal well into shale - at the Preston New Road site in Lancashire.
Cuadrilla plans to apply for approval to allow hydraulic fracturing the well. Industry group United Kingdom Onshore Oil & Gas (UKOOG) described it as "a major step on the road".
Great news today as @CuadrillaUK announce that they have finished drilling the UK's first horizontal well into shale rock. They will in time be applying for consent to hydraulically fracture the well, the first at their Preston New Road site in Lancashire. Here is our response: pic.twitter.com/XQOJLEuVGO
- UK Onshore Oil and Gas (@UKOOGroup) April 3, 2018In southern England, meanwhile, Angus Energy Plc (LON:ANGS) shares shot up 22% to trade at 9.5p as investors got excited by a Twitter post and a partner (ASX listed Doriemus) updated on the Brockham and Lidsey oil fields where oil production is underway.
Oil exports continuing at #ANGS pic.twitter.com/HTcEhRij5K
- Angus Energy Plc (@angusenergyplc) April 3, 2018On Twitter, Angus uploaded a picture of an oil tanker that appears to be connected to storage tanks.
Doriemus told its investors that Lidsey and Brockham were yielding gross production of 212 barrels of oil per day in aggregate.
Elsewhere, Weatherly International plc (LON:WTI) shares slumped 36% to 0.8p following this morning's news that it has agreed to reschedule debt repayments - the concession comes with a catch though, as the creditor (which is also a major shareholder in the company) has been given the right of approval over the company's future expenditure.
Air Partner Plc (LON:AIR) shares lost 22% following an update which gave investors details of preliminary investigations into an accounting issue related to the collection of receiveables and the accounting of certain uncollected amounts in the period since 2010/11.
"Whilst the investigation continues, the board presently understands that the cumulative amount between financial year ended 31 July 2011 and the financial year ended 31 January 2018 is approximately ?3.3 million and a significant proportion of this relates back to 2011," the company said in a statement.
"At no point was a customer, operator or supplier impacted or disadvantaged. Further, the Group continues to maintain a strong net cash position."
Marks and Spencer Group PLC (LON:MKS) was down 2.9p or 1.07% trading at 267.31p on Tuesday morning. High Street department store operator Debenhams PLC (LON:DEB) was worse off, losing 1.87% to 20.49p.
Costa Coffee owner Whitbread PLC (LON:WTB) was 1.62% lower at 3,640p, while Primark parent Associated British Food PLC (LON:ABF) lost 1.45%. Next PLC (LON:NXT) dipped 0.76% to 4,724, while Sports Direct International PLC (LON:SPD) and JD Sports Fashion PLC (LON:JD), were respectively 1.14% and 0.45% lower.
Supermarket stocks Tesco PLC (LON:TSCO), J Sainsbury PLC (LON:SBRY) and WM Morrison Supermarkets PLC (LON:MRW) shed 1.37%, 1.93% and 0.74% respectively.
Pub group Greene King PLC (LON:GNK) lost 1.17% to change hands at 465.9p, while Marston's PLC (LON:MARS) and Mitchells & Butlers PLC (LON:MAB) in turn fell 1.12% and 0.72%. JD Wetherspoon PLC (LON:JDW) and London brewer Fuller, Smith & Turner PLC (LON:FSTA), meanwhile, bucked the trend to rise 0.53% and 0.33% respectively.
Financial results featuring a return to profit saw Regal Petroleum PLC (LON:RPT) shares rising strongly in Tuesday's early deals.
The Ukraine-focussed oil and gas firm reported a full year US$2.3mln profit, versus a US$1.3mln loss in the year before, thanks largely to higher production volumes (averaging 2,800 beopd in 2017) which notably also saw cash generation rise to US$18mln, up from US$10mln.
In London, Regal Petroleum shares were up 2.25p or 10.47% trading at 23.75p.
Shares in skin health specialist SkinBioTherapeutics PLC (LON:SBTX) advanced, rising 9.4% to trade at 9.3p, after it revealed it had granted access to its proprietary SkinBiotix technology to a major, global consumer goods company.
Having shared the initial pre-clinical data with a number of interested parties, one potential partner to date has progressed to a material transfer agreement - a standard agreement governing the transfer of material between parties enabling the recipient to assess the technology. Should the unnamed consumer goods company like what it sees, the arrangement could lead to a commercial arrangement between the two companies.
Action Hotels PLC (LON:AHCG) shares gained 9.6%, changing hands at 18.74p, as it arranged an unsecured US$15mln loan with related group EBLA Computer Consultancy.
But train set maker Hornby PLC (LON:HRN) shares moved lower, falling 6% to 23.03p, as it told investors it is in the final stages of discussions regarding a financing facility with new lenders. At the same time, it said that sales and profits remain depressed.
Cradle Arc PLC (LON:CRA) is to accelerate the development of Mowana in Botswana to get the copper mine into profit more quickly.
HemoGenyx Pharmaceuticals PLC (LON:HEMO) has announced the appointment of Sir Marc Feldmann as its new executive chairman with effect from 9 April 2018.
Corero Network Security PLC (LON:CNS) said it has secured several new orders for its cybersecurity technologies to the tune of US$1.2mln. The AIM-listed cybersecurity firm said the orders included two for its SmartWall Threat Defense technology with a cloud-based web development customer and a digital enterprise customer, worth US$0.3mln and US$0.2mln respectively.
Motif Bio PLC (LON:MTFB, NASDAQ:MTFB) has initiated a rolling submission of a new drug application to the US Food & Drug Administration for iclaprim.
Environmental authorities in Botswana have granted permission for drilling on an additional 680 square kilometres of ground on the T3 Dome, jointly held by MOD Resources and Metal Tiger PLC (LON:MTR). The established open pit resource at T3 already looks likely to be able to support production of 21,800 tonnes of copper per year over a ten-year life.
United Oil & Gas PLC (LON:UOG) has announced the extension of an option over the right to purchase an additional farmed interest in the Corallian Energy Limited interests in its southern UK oil and gas assets. The LSE main market-listed oil and gas exploration and development company pointed out that the option, which expired at the end of March 2018, has been renewed to the end of April 2018 on the same terms whilst the company awaits the transfer of the assigned initial interest from the UK Oil and Gas Authority, which is imminent.
Savannah Resources PLC (LON:SAV) is raising ?2.1mln in new money, ?1.5mln of which has been received following a subscription for shares, and ?565,000 of which has been pledged by a major shareholder in a Letter of Intent. The company will use the money to progress with its three main projects.
MySQUAR Limited (LON:MYSQ), the Myanmar-language social media, entertainments and payments platform operator, said in its interim results statement that there had been no "substantive progress" made in relation to the preliminary takeover approach it received in early January.
Scancell Holdings PLC (LON:SCLP) has signed an agreement with The PolyPeptide Group for the manufacture of its first Moditope anti-cancer platform, Modi-1-AMPLIVANT.
Silence Therapeutics PLC (LON:SLN) is embroiled in another patent battle with Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc., this time in Portugal against its Patisiran product. In a statement, the AIM-listed drug discovery firm said that it brought the patent infringement proceedings in Portugal yesterday against Alnylam after the US firm on 29 March filed a Declaratory Judgement (DJ) against Silence Therapeutics PLC and its Silence Therapeutics Gmbh subsidiary in the US federal district court in Boston, Massachusetts, USA.
Genedrive PLC (LON:GDR) has said it will premiere its HCV ID Kit in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region on 2-4 April 2018. The AIM-listed diagnostics company said the kit would make its debut at the MEDLAB Asia Pacific Exhibition & Congress in Singapore.
Advanced Oncotherapy PLC (LON:AVO) said its partner company, Yantai CIPU, has extended distribution negotiations with a major Chinese medical and pharmaceutical company. The AIM-listed cancer treatment developer said negotiations between Yantai and the Chinese distributor, conducted through Yantai's affiliate entity Liquid Harmony, would continue past the originally announced date of 31 March 2018.
Atlantis Resources Limited (LON:ARL), a global leader in the renewable energy sector, announced that following the formal launch of its proposed five-year bond through Abundance Investment Limited, investor commitments have now passed ?3.0mln, exceeding the minimum threshold of ?2.0mln. The company said it has also extended the offer to investors which will now remain open until 30 April 2018.
US Oil & Gas PLC (USOP) has contracted a rig for a planned drill programme in Nevada. In a statement released after market close on March 29, the explorer said it had signed up Capstar drilling (a unit of Oil States International Inc) for up to two wells (Eblana-3 and Eblana-6).
Providence Resources PLC (LON:PVR) told investors it has secured an extension to the frontier exploration licence hosting the Newgrange prospect, off Ireland's west coast. The Irish authorities have now extended the first phase of the licence, out to March 2019, to allow more time for the acquisition of new 3D seismic data over the crest of the Newgrange target.
Diversified Gas & Oil PLC (LON:DGOC) told investors that it has completed the CNX Gas Company acquisition and at the same time updated on its dividend policy. The addition of the CNX assets means that the group's production profile now yields more than 28,000 barrels oil equivalent per day, and the group's reserves base now amounts to some 173mln barrels oil equivalent.
Asiamet Resources Ltd (LON:ARS) has delivered more high grade copper intercepts at its BKM copper project in Indonesia. Asiamet remains on track to complete a feasibility study at BKM by mid-year.
W Resources has commenced earthworks at the La Parrilla tungsten mine in Spain, following the completion of financing in February. A structural steel contract is likely to be awarded this month, as construction gathers pace.
Metminco LTD (LON:MNC) ended 2017 with just over A$850,000 in the bank, following the sale of its interest in the Los Calatos copper project and the completion of a feasibility study for the Miraflores gold project in Colombia. Miraflores looks likely to support production of 421,000 ounces of gold over a 9.3 year life.
Caledonia Mining Corporation PLC (LON:CMCL) (TSX:CAL) has maintained its quarterly dividend of 6.875 US cents on each of the company's common shares. It said it is expected that the current dividend of 27.50 US cents per annum, paid in equal quarterly instalments, will be maintained