1st Oct 2019 11:07
(Alliance News) - Zoltav Resources Inc said Monday its swung to a loss for the first half of 2019, as revenue dropped on lower production.
For the six months to the end of June, the Russian oil & gas company reported a pretax loss of RUB172.6 million, around USD2.7 million, compared to a profit of RUB101.1 million a year before.
This was due to higher administrative expenses at RUB133.2 million from RUB88.2 million, as well as revenue which dropped by 24% to RUB624.4 million from RUB830.6 million.
The revenue decline was mainly due to lower production from the Bortovoy project in Russian, where overall gas production for the period was 4.7 billion cubic feet, compared to 6.3 bcf the prior year.
Oil and condensate production meanwhile fell by 38% to 37,389 barrels from 60,558 barrels the year before.
Looking ahead, Zoltav expects total gas production for 2019 to be around 10.6 billion cubic feet, down 11% from 12.0 bcf in 2018.
In addition, a development programme is underway to reverse the production decline during the first quarter of 2020, with the Zhdanovskoye well 103 put in production in August, and the Karpenskoye well 5D to be put in production in December.
"The development programme aimed at reversing the production decline from the West Bortovoy fields during the first quarter of 2020 continued to advance throughout the period. Long-term development plans remain focused on connecting East Bortovoy fields to the Western Gas Plant," said Chair Lea Verny.
"The work programme feeding into the technical and economic feasibility study being conducted on this opportunity continued throughout the period under review," Verny added.
Shares in Zoltav Resources were 19% higher at 41.00 pence on Tuesday in London.
By Dayo Laniyan; [email protected]
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