16th Mar 2015 09:04
LONDON (Alliance News) - Range Resources Ltd Monday said it "remains fully committed to turning the company around" after its net loss widened in the first-half of its financial year as revenue plummeted on the back of lower oil prices and lower production.
The oil and gas exploration and production company operating in Trinidad reported a net loss of USD19.9 million in the six months to December 31, slightly wider than the USD19.1 million loss it made in the first half of the previous financial year.
The wider loss came after revenue dropped by 34% to USD7.8 million from USD11.8 million. The company's average realised oil price in the period fell by 19% to USD79.2 per barrel from USD97.4 per barrel a year earlier.
Revenue not only fell from lower oil prices, but also on the back of production falling by 11% in the period to 545 barrels of oil per day from 615 barrels per day a year earlier. The decrease was mainly a result of a lack of drilling activity and poor uptime of the rig fleet, resulting from historical underinvestment, it said, which prevented the company from running its drilling operations at full capacity.
Range also booked a USD5 million impairment charge against its Georgian assets, and said it continues to try and dispose of the non-core assets.
"Range continues to explore options to exit these non-core assets and given the current low oil price environment and the challenging merger and acquisition conditions, the management believes that this represents fair value that might be received on any potential disposal," said the company.
In addition, Range said it made a USD2.5 million net loss from operations on other assets which are "being sold", namely its Texas asset and Range Resources Drilling Services Ltd.
These losses were partially offset by a 13% reduction in general and administrative costs to USD7.5 million from USD8.6 million, but the company admitted the costs are "still too high" with a focus on reducing them further.
"The management remains fully committed on turning the company around, strengthening the balance sheet, and increasing production and look forward to providing more frequent operational updates to Shareholders," said Range.
In February, the company said it was seeking legal advice on the validity of the statutory demand issued by Lind Asset Management LLC, which has demanded the repayment of USD7.2 million that Lind claims is due under the USD15 million loan facility provided to Range.
Range shares are currently suspended from trading.
By Joshua Warner; [email protected]; @JoshAlliance
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