17th Sep 2014 09:54
LONDON (Alliance News) - Petroceltic International PLC Wednesday announced a widened pretax loss caused by the write-off of exploration costs due to unsuccessful wells in three countries.
The independent oil and gas exploration development and production company reported revenue of USD96.3 million in the six months ended June 30, down from USD103.7 million in the first half of 2013. Its revenue primarily comes from its production in Egypt and Bulgaria.
The pretax loss for the first half of 2014 widened to USD48.5 million from a USD5 million loss in the comparable period in 2013, driven by the write-off of exploration costs of USD64.3 million, as a result of unsuccessful wells in Kurdistan, Romania and Egypt, it said.
However the company remained upbeat. "Petroceltic's production and development business has delivered a solid performance to date in 2014," said Chief Executive Brian O'Cathain.
Production during the period, all of which is operated by Petroceltic, performed ahead of expectations at approximately 25.2 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, in excess of its full year guidance of 20 million to 22 million barrels of oil equivalent per day. This has resulted in full-year guidance being revised upwards to 21 million to 23 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, it said.
The company has improved its receivables position, meaning payments owed to it, reducing it to USD110 million in the first-half from USD173.5 million in the first-half of 2013 as it continues to try and secure more regular payments for production.
Its receivables position in Egypt was reduced by 33% to USD79.4 million at June 30, following reports that the Egyptian government is to accelerate payments to the oil and gas industry with the intention of repaying outstanding arrears by 2017, said Petroceltic.
The company aims to maximise the value of its Bulgarian "cash generator" fields after results showed some water production from the Kavarna field and some low reservoir pressures at Kaliakra indicated a potential requirement for further investment to achieve planned production, alongside the possibility for further exploration at the site, it added.
Exploration activity in the first half consisted of drilling in Kurdistan, Egypt and Romania, as well as progress on new exploration licences in Egypt and Greece.
"To date in 2014, we have continued to ensure that the business is properly structured, staffed and funded to achieve our objectives, including a share placing, positive production results and the securing of new exploration licences," added O'Caithain.
Petroceltic's shares were up 1.6% to 171.25 pence per share Wednesday morning.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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