12th May 2020 11:18
(Alliance News) - Pharos Energy PLC said Tuesday it has continued production operations in Vietnam and Egypt for the first quarter of 2020 despite the global virus pandemic, however guidance for 2020 has been affected, with lower output anticipated from Egypt.
For the three months to the end of March, the oil & gas firm reported net working interest production at 11,589 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with Egypt production at 5,596 barrels of oil per day, and Vietnam output at 5,993 boepd.
Revenue for the quarter was USD35.0 million, with a further USD6.3 million in hedging revenue booked for April.
In Vietnam, the 2019 two-well TGT drilling campaign was completed on-time and under budget, with the upgrade to the gas turbine compressors completed ahead of schedule.
Looking ahead, Pharos Energy has withdrawn its dividend payments for 2020, due to continued macro uncertainty.
In addition, the company has lowered its 2020 production guidance for its Egyptian operations to between 5,000 and 6,000 barrels of oil per day, compared to 6,500 and 7,500 barrels estimated in January.
The reduced guidance for Egypt is due to a scaling back of drilling activity, with two drilling rigs released, and one cold stacked at zero rate. Other than two wells, Pharos said that there will be no drilling activity for the rest of the year until the economic environment improves.
However, guidance for Vietnam has remained unchanged at 5,500 to 6,500 net boepd.
"As the Covid-19 pandemic continues, it remains at the forefront of our thinking as we maintain production operations. Earlier in the year in response to low oil prices, we took prompt action and cut capital expenditure by deferring some of our largely discretionary investments in Egypt. We are working closely with our partners to achieve cost reductions across the business and are managing our portfolio to ensure we remain robust in this challenging period," said Chief Executive Officer Ed Story.
"We firmly believe demand for oil and gas will continue to be an important component of the global energy mix over many future decades and we are positioning ourselves to survive the low oil price environment for the medium to long term for the benefit of all our stakeholders," Story added.
Shares in Pharos Energy were up 1.1% at 16.68 pence on Tuesday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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