Successful drilling on the Isarene permit in Algeria has enabled Petroceltic to announce a major gas condensate discovery that has been proven to flow commercially and has been estimated to hold potentially up to a whopping 11 trillion cubic feet of gas. Isarene now needs to be tested with appraisal drilling of at least three wells, starting this autumn, although a full assessment of the discovery may take until 2012.
Having lost its major Spanish partner Iberdrola in January, Petroceltic raised $120.5m (£79.4m) through a placing last month to finance ongoing activities. These include appraisal drilling of the Elsa field in the central Italian Adriatic. Independent assessments indicate this could hold up to 170m barrels of recoverable hydrocarbons and drilling is scheduled to begin in the third quarter of the year.
At around the same time, Petroceltic will also begin exploration drilling on the Ksar Hadada permit in Tunisia, where its share of costs will be borne by incoming partner PetroAsian Energy. Petroceltic is also looking for acquisition opportunities offering early production and exploration upside.
Prior to these results, broker Evolution Securities was forecasting 2010 pre-tax losses of $20m and a loss per share of 118¢.
| PETROCELTIC INTERNATIONAL (PCI) | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ORD PRICE: | 13p | MARKET VALUE: | £256m | |
| TOUCH: | 12.5-13p | 12-MONTH HIGH: | 21p | LOW: 7p |
| DIVIDEND YIELD: | NIL | PE RATIO: | NA | |
| NET ASSET VALUE: | 12¢* | NET CASH: | $33.7m† | |
| Year to 31 Dec | Turnover ($m) | Pre-tax profit ($m) | Earnings per share (¢) | Dividend per share (p) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2005 | 1.07 | -2.43 | -0.42 | nil |
| 2006 | 1.27 | -4.69 | -0.70 | nil |
| 2007 | 0.55 | -2.46 | -0.33 | nil |
| 2008 | 0.96 | -3.70 | -0.44 | nil |
| 2009 | 0.21 | -6.12 | -0.51 | nil |
| % change | -78 | - | - | - |
*Includes intangible assets of $157m, or 11¢ a share †Before $121m placing £1=$1.517 | ||||
