Interim results from New World Oil & Gas, the late-stage prospect development specialist, focused on the progress the firm has made in de-risking its prospects in Belize and Denmark.
The emphasis on progress made on the exploration front is understandable, as the company is not yet in the production phase, though if things go well, that phase should not be too far off.
The company made a loss before tax of $1.40m in the first half of 2012, versus a loss of $1.0m the year before. The loss was in line with the company's budget.
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Loss per share narrowed to 0.70 cents from 3.42 cents, reflecting the increase in the number of shares in issue following three successful fund raising exercises in the space of 16 months,
The group is poised to commence a three-well drilling programme at its Blue Creek Project in Belize, where it has identified P50 gross prospective resources of 329m barrels of oil, with an indicative multi-discovery success case net present value of $8.13bn on a 100% working interest basis; P50 is oil industry jargon, indicating a 50% probability of finding hydrocarbons.
"Our achievements during the first half of the year will ensure that the next six months will be a highly exciting time for the company as we continue to work hard to build a leading multi-asset oil and gas exploration and production company," pledged company Chairman, Bill Kelleher.
"By mid-November 2012 we will know whether or not we have made an oil discovery, and I look forward to updating shareholders on every step of our drilling process.
"In Denmark we expect to drill up to two Triassic wells in Jutland within the next 12 months, and potentially commence drilling of the Als prospect in the Baltic Region. Although these goals seem ambitious, our rapid progress to date and the presence of one of the strongest oil and gas teams around increases my confidence in our success," Kelleher continued.
Cash and cash equivalents at the end of June stood at $12.87m, up from $3.28m a year earlier.
Shares in New World were unchanged.
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