24th Sep 2014 08:35
LONDON (Alliance News) - Petrel Resources PLC Wednesday said it is financially secure for the coming years as its operations continue to be hampered in Iraq and Ghana.
Petrel reported a pretax loss of EUR228,000 in the six months ended June 30, compared to a EUR247,000 loss in the first-half of 2013. The narrowed loss is due to a reduction in administrative expenses, down to EUR229,000 from EUR249,000.
The company does not generate any revenue and has a cash balance of EUR1.7 million at June 30. It has ongoing projects in Ghana, offshore Ireland and Iraq.
Following the legal proceedings with the Ghanaian authorities regarding its Tano 2A licence, the company expects confirmation of the agreement, which means that it will be provided new land next to its current acreage to replace lost land when a rival rights application by CAMAC Energy Inc overlapped their own licence, by the deadline in October.
"The deadline for confirmation is early October as we reserved the right to re-activate court action if agreements were not finalised. The licence is highly prospective given the proximity of the world class Jubilee field and, after several years endeavour, we look forward to progressing our interests following ratification," said Chairman John Teeling.
Petrel said the first phase is underway at its project in the Porcupine Basin offshore Ireland, involving environmental studies, reprocessing of available data and the acquisition of new seismic data. It anticipates the new 3D seismic will be acquired in 2015, with drilling likely to take place in 2017.
In July, the company said that changes to the fiscal regime in Ireland, including royalties and higher taxes could hit its operations.
"The political uncertainty and civil strife in the Middle East makes it difficult to be optimistic about our activities in Iraq," said Teeling in a statement. Petrel is awaiting approvals from the governor of the Wasit Province to undertake seismic followed by drilling, it added.
Petrel's block 6 oil exploration licence in Iraq sits in the Anbar province in the west where war has been raging for months.
"We are financially secure for the coming years. We are carried in Iraq and offshore Ireland while there is little ongoing cost in Ghana. We are actively preparing for the next offshore Ireland licencing round in 2015. Activity in Ghana will increase on licence ratification while we continue to evaluate opportunities in other parts of the world," said Teeling.
Petrels shares were up 1.9% to 6.75 pence per share Wednesday morning.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
Copyright 2014 Alliance News Limited. All Rights Reserved.
Related Shares:
Petrel Resources