To some it’s further evidence of a liquidity bubble, to others a sign of renewed investor confidence and rising risk appetite. Whichever view you subscribe to, there’s little doubt that small-cap oil and gas exploration, where share prices have risen by five or six times in a couple of months, is one of the most exciting and dangerous areas of the London market.

And no stock is more exciting or volatile at the moment than Gulf Keystone Petroleum. Shares in the Kurdistan explorer have risen from 13p to 105p in the past two months following a big discovery in northern Iraq. The company is now worth just over £500m, and is one of the most popular stocks among retail investors, even though it does not know how much of the 1bn-5.3bn barrels of oil it has found can be recovered. It also needs to raise $80m-$90m to develop its oil field.