THERE was surely a modicum of embarrassment this week in the boardroom of Irish exploration group Bula Resources when the company was forced to effectively disown some initially encouraging test results from its joint venture oil prospect in western Siberia.

Last October Bula made enthusiastic noises over flow testing which showed that oil was being extracted at the rate of 942 barrels a day. In April Bula modified the tenor of this information, warning shareholders that as well head pressure was disappointing the rate of production could be significantly lower. In a short, terse statement during the week the company said new information reveals that the well flowed insignificant amounts of oil and would not be brought into production. Bula acknowledged that earlier data was "incorrect". The company is now trying to discover how the misleading original announcement came to be made.

Last week, in a wholly unrelated incident, Canadian gold mining company BreX Minerals collapsed in a blaze of ignominy, with investors losing millions of pounds when independent evaluation had shown that core samples had been fraudulently laced with stream worn gold particles. The BreX debacle highlights the need for some autonomous system to verify assay claims, particularly when such information can influence the company's share price.