12th Sep 2014 08:05
LONDON (Alliance News) - President Energy PLC Friday reported a narrowed loss for the first-half of 2014 thanks partly to increased production, and the company said it is focused on further exploration in Paraguay and increasing existing production levels.
Its pretax loss narrowed to USD1.9 million in the six months ended June 30, from a USD2.9 million loss in the comparable period in 2013.
Revenue increased to USD5.8 million, compared to GBP 5.7 million in the first-half of 2013. This is due to a slight increase in average daily production to 389 barrels of oil equivalent per day from its US and Argentinian operations, compared to 365 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first-half of 2013.
Exploration and evaluation expenditure increased to USD19.7 million, from USD5.5 million in the comparable period in 2013. The rise is due to USD13.9 million in advanced payments regarding its drlling programme in Paraguay, it said.
President's administrative expenses reduced to USD2.7 million from USD4.2 million in the first six months of 2013, reflecting the capitalisation of USD1.8 million of costs related to the Paraguay drilling campaign, it said.
"Paraguay is the core focus for the company, and, in management's view, the three concessions acquired in 2012/2014 continue to demonstrate significant potential for the future," said President.
"Away from Paraguay we have continued to enjoy steady cash flow from our assets in Argentina and Louisiana. The prospects for these assets have been further enhanced by the increase in our interest in the Puesto Guardian concession, bringing both additional revenue and operational control," said Chairman Peter Levine.
President Energy announced it had acquired an additional 50% of the Puesto Guardian concession in Argentina in July, to double reserves and production in Argentina and provide control through operatorship. It now owns all the concession.
"Louisiana together with increased 2P reserves in Argentina provide a solid foundation on which the company can pursue its exploration programme in Paraguay as well as expand its current production... The Jacaranda well (Paraguay) results give us optimism for our continued exploration campaign", added Levine.
President Energy's shares were up 0.6% to 20.00 pence per share Friday morning.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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