24th Sep 2015 12:59
LONDON (Alliance News) - Papua New Guinea-focused oil and gas company UMC Energy Corp on Thursday posted a wider pretax loss in the first half as it booked an impairment charge on two of its licences.
UMC said its pretax loss for the six months to the end of June was USD4.6 million, widened from a USD1.3 million loss a year earlier, resulting from a USD3.3 million impairment charge on the 374, 375 and 405 licences on which it is working in partnership with Chinese oil and gas group CNOOC Ltd. The company did not generate any revenue in the half.
UMC said it is continuing to work on the licences in Papua New Guinea, and the pair are still assessing the prospectivity and economics of the permits.
UMC also said it has not carried out any exploration activity in Madagascar in the first half, amid ongoing political uncertainty in the country.
The company said it will continue to focus on cutting costs through the remainder of the year in the face of the tough oil and gas sector conditions, caused by the fall in the oil price.
Shares in UMC were untraded on Thursday, having last traded at 1.25 pence.
By Sam Unsted; [email protected]; @SamUAtAlliance
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