Dont you just love it when a high-risk investment comes good? Especially when its a small oil exploration company in these difficult times? Its not the stuff of which most long-term Foolish portfolios are made, but it cheers me to hear of success for those who take the occasional risk.
Its early days, but Leni Gas & Oil (LSE: LGO) is looking like one of these success stories, after I reported only last week how its shares had stormed to a 52-week record. And since then, the shares have already gained some more up to 5.81p apiece as I write, for a magnificent eight-bagger just since April.
The latest gusher
The latest good news, which added another 2% to the share price this morning, came in the form of a Trinidad drilling update.
The next well in the companys Goudron Field out of the 30 planned, designated GY-669, has been spudded and is drilling ahead in the Goudron Sandstone formation. From the current drilling pad, Leni plans to drill four wells in total, and production should be on-stream by the end of the year the reservoir the other three are targeted at has been described by Leni as prolific so far.
The newly spudded well should reach a depth of 3,935 feet and is expected to encounter net pay of 250-300 feet.
Tricky to value
With earlier wells having beaten expectations, chief executive Neil Ritson was understandably upbeat, saying The drilling programme continues to advance at an excellent pace and we can look forward to a further rise in field production.
What does this all mean for Foolish investors?
Well, there is a lot of optimism built into todays share price, especially as we have no clue as to Lenis ultimate profitability yet and that makes it impossible to put any sort of rational valuation on the company based on the usual metrics.
And should the next drilling update fall a bit short of the better-than-expected results that people seem to expect, we could see the shares taking a bit of a dip.
Exciting prospects
But right now, I think longer-term optimism could turn out to be well placed.
And while I favour a long-term Buy and Hold strategy of investing in blue-chip shares, I also think its good to take a higher-risk punt with a small portion of your investment capital from time to time.
Risking a modest portion of your portfolio on a speculative stock like Leni Gas & Oil could help propel you to a seriously flash retirement, but what’s the best way to a wealthy old age?
If you want to know, get yourself a copy of the hot Motley Fool report “How You Could Retire Seriously Rich“. It’s completely free, and outlines ways to put a bit of oomph into your portfolio.
Alan Oscroft has no position in any shares mentioned. The Motley Fool UK has no position in any of the shares mentioned. We Fools don’t all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors.
