Afren hails success of first quarter operations

Oil exploration firm Afren said profits rose considerably in the first quarter after significant oil finds.

The firm posted pre-tax profits of £143.2m, compared with £2m in the first quarter of 2011.

Basic earnings per share rose to 5c, up from a loss of 1.2c the year before.

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The company said its 2012 exploration campaign had so far yielded significant success, with high value discoveries at two sites offshore south east Nigeria and in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.

It said net production of 41,308 barrels of oil per day equivalent was in line with expectations for the period.

However, the is was more than quadruple the amount it took out of the ground in the same period the year before.

"We have made an excellent start to our 2012 exploration campaign with significant discoveries at Okoro East, Ebok North fault Block and Ain Sifni," said Osman Shahenshah, Chief Executive of Afren.

"We look forward to continuing our exploration programme, with wells in Nigeria, the Nigeria-So Tom & Prncipe JDZ , Congo, the Kurdistan region of Iraq and East Africa, targeting in excess of 630 million barrels of oil equivalent net to Afren."