Chariot Oil & Gas annual results hit by impairment charge

Chariot Oil & Gas posted an annual loss on Wednesday following an impairment charge on an oil well in Namibia that was plugged and abandoned.

The Africa-focused oil and gas company incurred a pre-tax loss of $88.6m for the year to the end of December 2012, compared to a loss of £9.1m for the 10 months ended December 31st 2011.

Chariot said the loss reflected an impairment of $80.8m on the Tapir South well and higher administration costs which came to $7.5m, up from $5.6 the previous year, due to a shorter accounting period and organisational restructuring expenses.

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However, the firm remained debt free with cash balances of $68.3m as it progressed on projects including farm-out agreements with BP and PGS.

"This past year has seen the company take some bold steps forward which have served to further develop our asset base on a number of levels," Chairman Philip Loader said.

"We now have a strong foothold in three very interesting geological provinces for oil and gas exploration and have created a portfolio that contains a variety of regional plays; exploration success in any of these regions has the potential to deliver transformational value to the stakeholders in Chariot. We look forward to continuing our work and taking these assets through the value curve."

In the pipeline this year is preparation on projects in Namibia, Mauritania and Morocco for offshore drilling in 2014, 2015 and 2016, respectively.

RD