Faroe Petroleum 2012 production within expections

Faroe Petroleum, an independent oil and gas company, has said that total average economic production for 2012 was around 7,200 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), although production in the second half was lower than the first due to temporary unscheduled production shut-downs on the Njord, Brage and Blane fields.

The Blaine field also remained shut for almost 10 week as a result of repairs that were undertaken after a gas leak had been detected on the Ula platform to which it ties back.

The firm reassured investors that all fields are now back on stream and said production is currently around 8,000 boepd.

Looking ahead to 2013, average production is expected to be between 7,000 and 9,000 boepd.

The group also said the Hyme development is on schedule and production is expected in the first quarter. Once it is on stream it is set to add a 1,000 boepd to current production levels.

Graham Stewart, Chief Executive, Faroe Petroleum said: "We are pleased to provide an update on current operations and a look forward to our continuing active exploration programme for 2013. Production in 2012 has been in line with expectations and has funded both our exploration programme and a significant proportion of our development capex.

"Aside from our production cash flow, we have robust cash balances and a substantially undrawn debt facility. We expect higher average production rates in 2013, and, as in 2012, we expect that the cash flow from production will fully fund the exploration programme and a large part of the development capex, with the remainder being funded from reserves and our debt facility, as appropriate.

"We drilled six exploration wells during 2012 and the pace of our exploration programme has continued into 2013 with a further five exploration wells planned for 2013 as well as five development wells. The company is in an excellent position to maintain its momentum in exploration and to make further investments as we execute our growth strategy through the drill bit."

The share price fell 2.23% to 131.75p by 13:17.

NR