Exploration firm cuts pre-tax losses by 18%

Pre-tax losses at Dublin-based exploration firm Petroceltic fell more than 18% last year — a period management has called “transformational” for the company.

The latest annual results, published yesterday, show that the company cut its pre-tax losses from $8.2m (€6.3m) to $6.67m, with revenues rising from $419,000 to over $59.4m.

A three-month contribution from Melrose Resources, which merged with Petroceltic late last year, boosted yearly revenue by $420,000.

Net debt, at year-end, amounted to $209m.

Petroceltic doubled in size via its merger with the Edinburgh-based Melrose.

While last week contained noteworthy updates from the company — the securing of nearly €400m in fresh financing from a syndicate of international banks and the awarding of two licences in Egypt — yesterday’s update also made official the true extent of its headline Ain Tsila asset in Algeria, with reserves of 304m barrels of oil equivalent “booked”.

The company also updated its plans to move its share listings from the secondary exchanges in London and Dublin to the main LSE and Iseq, saying that a late June move is “on schedule”.

Petroceltic chairman Robert Adair said the company has the technical expertise and ambition to develop further over the coming year and that all key objectives, set out at the end of last year, “have been met or exceeded”.

The company has an ambitious exploration programme — covering a minimum of nine wells — planned for the coming 18 months across its assets in northern Africa, the Black Sea region, and Middle East.

This programme will include two high-impact wells in the Kurdistan region of Iraq, commencing this year, which target prospects in excess of 500m barrels of oil.

Management said Petroceltic is funded to progress its existing discoveries towards production, while maintaining a consistent exploration programme.