COPENHAGEN: North Sea-focused oil and gas explorer Faroe Petroleum PLC (FPM.LN) reported Tuesday a wider net loss for the first half of the year due to lower revenue and higher exploration costs, but raised its full-year output guidance due to a better-than-expected performance at some of its fields.
The U.K.-listed company with assets in the U.K. and Norwegian North Sea reported a net loss of GBP13 million ($17 million) for the six months ended June 30, 2016, compared with a net loss of GBP6.7 million in the same period last year.
This reflected a 55% drop in revenue to GBP23 million due to lower oil and gas prices as well as an 18% drop in oil and gas output to 9,030 barrels of oil equivalent a day. The decrease was mainly due to the planned suspension of Njord and Hyme in early June.
The average operating cost also rose to $25 a barrel of oil equivalent a day in the first half of the year from $23 in the first half last year, because of lower production from the Njord and Hyme fields due to maintenance and higher tariff charges on the Schooner and Ketch fields.
Faroe Petroleum raised its output forecast for this year to 16,000-18,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day from 15,000-17,000 barrels previously, reflecting a better-than-expected performance from the Trym, Brage and Oselvar fields, split between approximately 60% liquids and 40% gas.
The guidance includes output from its $70.2 million acquisition of four producing fields in Norway from Denmark’s DONG Energy A/S (DENERG.KO), which is forecast to close in the second half of this year.
