GSS Energy's oil thrust: fool's errand or visionary's touch?

ROWING against the tide makes one either a fool or a visionary. And into which category GSS Energy falls is the question investors are trying to answer.

Armed with a substantial cash hoard, the precision-engineering group is braving the sea of red in the oil & gas sector to venture into hydrocarbon production, just when most others would prefer to be reducing their exposure to the volatility of the sector.

The firm, which secured a contract from Indonesian state-owned energy giant PT Pertamina in November last year, expects to produce first oil from the Trembul field in Central Java by the first half of this year.