LONDON (ShareCast) - Jean Claude Gandur, president and chief executive of Canada-based oil and gas explorer Addax Petroleum, sold more than £1m of shares in the company today.

He offloaded the stake in three batches of 20,000 at an average of C$38.89 (1,911.5p) each, or a total of £1.147m, leaving him with 5.78m shares, or around 3.7% of the company.

Gandur’s move follows a fall of around 18% in the firm’s share price this month as oil prices tumbled from a record high above $110 a barrel to below $100 last week.

That slide was noted by the Sunday Telegraph which reckons the firm's cashflow and prospects make it a strong buying opportunity.

The business, which is focused on Africa and the Middle East, had received a short-lived boost at the start of March following an encouraging update from its appraisal well at the Taq Taq field in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

“The ongoing success of our appraisal program at Taq Taq continues to be very encouraging and is a significant further step towards our goal of producing first commercial oil in the second half of 2008,” Gandur said.


Top Director Buys

Unilever (ULVR)
Director name: Mr Patrick J P Cescau
Amount purchased: 12,025 @ 1,672.00p
Value: £201,058

BPP Holdings (BPP)
Director name: Mr Roger Siddle
Amount purchased: 20,000 @ 511.50p
Value: £102,300

Unilever (ULVR)
Director name: Mr C Kees van der Graff
Amount purchased: 5,770 @ 1,672.00p
Value: £96,474

Unilever (ULVR)
Director name: Mr Ralph David Kugler
Amount purchased: 5,292 @ 1,672.00p
Value: £88,482

Graphite Enterprise Trust (GPE)
Director name: Mr J R Sclater
Amount purchased: 20,000 @ 440.00p
Value: £88,000

Mountview Estate (MTVW)
Director name: Mr K Langrish-Smith
Amount purchased: 1,000 @ 4,450.00p
Value: £44,500

MediaZest (MDZ)
Director name: Mr Lance O’Neill
Amount purchased: 1,575,000 @ 2.40p
Value: £37,800

BPP Holdings (BPP)
Director name: Mr Chris Ross-Roberts
Amount purchased: 6,000 @ 511.50p
Value: £30,690

Renewable Energy Generation (RWE)
Director name: Mr Michael Joseph Liston
Amount purchased: 25,000 @ 115.00p
Value: £28,750

Dawson Holdings (DWN)
Director name: Mr Peter Harris
Amount purchased: 30,000 @ 85.80p
Value: £25,740


Top Director Sells

Addax Petroleum (AXC)
Director name: Mr Jean Claude Gandur
Amount sold: 20,000 @ 1,917.52p
Value: £383,504

Addax Petroleum (AXC)
Director name: Mr Jean Claude Gandur
Amount sold: 20,000 @ 1,914.57p
Value: £382,914

Addax Petroleum (AXC)
Director name: Mr Jean Claude Gandur
Amount sold: 20,000 @ 1,902.38p
Value: £380,476

Aviva (AV.)
Director name: Mr Philip G Scott
Amount sold: 55,332 @ 618.50p
Value: £342,228

Aviva (AV.)
Director name: Mr Andrew Moss
Amount sold: 49,130 @ 618.50p
Value: £303,869

Cadbury Schweppes (CBRY)
Director name: Mr Ken Hanna
Amount sold: 30,827 @ 577.00p
Value: £177,872

SABMiller (SAB)
Director name: Mr M I Wyman
Amount sold: 10,000 @ 1,065.00p
Value: £106,500

SABMiller (SAB)
Director name: Mr M I Wyman
Amount sold: 10,000 @ 1,064.00p
Value: £106,400

Unilever (ULVR)
Director name: Mr Patrick J P Cescau
Amount sold: 5,070 @ 1,672.00p
Value: £84,770

Unilever (ULVR)
Director name: Mr C Kees van der Graff
Amount sold: 4,019 @ 1,672.00p
Value: £67,198

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