Kuwait Energy Q1 revenue up 8.6pc
Kuwait, May 2, 2013
Kuwait Energy, one of the fastest growing independent oil and gas exploration and production companies in the Middle East, said its revenue for the first quarter grew 8.6 per cent, year-on-year, to $64 million when compared to $59 million during the same period last year.
The Kuwaiti firm also registered solid increase in its production during the first quarter which surged 24.2 per cent year-on-year to hit 21,568 boepd compared to 17,370 boepd last year.
The revenue for the first quarter grew 11.6 per cent, quarter-on-quarter, to $64 million over $57.4 million last year, while the production rose 7.5 per cent, quarter-on-quarter, to 21,568 boepd over last year's 20,052 boepd.
During the quarter, the company formally completed the acquisition of Jannah Hunt Oil Company (JHOC), a company operating in Yemen, which had a 15 per cent participating interest in Block 5, which comprises four oil producing fields in the Marib-Shabwa basin, said a statement from Kuwait Energy.
The current total production from this Block is c. 38,000 bopd with Kuwait Energy’s working interest share contributing c. 5,700 bopd, it stated.
The Kuwait Energy-led consortium that was awarded the Exploration and Development contract for Block 9 in Basra, Iraq, formally signed the contract in January 2013 with an effective date of February 3, 2013. The contract is valid for a period of 20 years until 2032.
The consortium comprises Kuwait Energy and Dragon Oil. Kuwait Energy is the operator of the block with a 70 per cent working interest with Dragon Oil holding the remaining 30 per cent. The consortium submitted a field exploration plan to the Joint Management Committee on March 31.
Kuwait Energy also continued to participate in negotiations, in the second Afghanistan Bid Round, to finalize the terms of Exploration and Production Sharing Contracts (EPSC) for exploration licences for Block I (Sanduqli) and Block IV (Mazar-i-Sharif). Exploration activity is expected to commence soon after the signing of the EPSCs.
On the results, CEO Sara Akbar said, "I am pleased to announce another quarter of production and revenue increases. During the first quarter, we formally completed our Yemen acquisition and also signed a contract for new exploration in Iraq. We also increased our daily average working interest production to well over the 20,000 boepd level."
"These are very important operational milestones for the Company and 2013 looks set to be another very exciting year for Kuwait Energy," she added.
Financially, by the end of the first quarter, Kuwait Energy had drawn down $50 million of its facility with Abraaj Capital and $50 million with Qatar First Bank to finance near-term development and growth plans.
The company also drew down a further $50 million from its $165 million facility with the International Finance Corporation and Deutsche Bank. A short term facility for three month was established with Kuwait International Bank for $25 million to fund a part of the JHOC (Yemen Block 5) acquisition.-TradeArabia News Service
