LNG

Valeura Energy Inc., the upstream oil and natural gas company with assets in the Gulf of Thailand and planned appraisal activities for tight natural gas in the Thrace Basin of Turkey, has reported improved third-quarter results.

Valeura, which is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange and the over-the-counter market in the US, released earnings for the three months to the end of September.

In the third quarter, Valeura sold 1.701 million barrels of crude oil and the company recorded oil revenues of US$149.4 million, versus nil in the same quarter of 2022, which was prior to the company having active production operations.

Valeura said operating expenses increased in the quarter largely due to a planned increase in the amount of well workovers and the volume of maintenance and inspection work performed across the portfolio.

Valeura reported operating expenses of US$55.3 million in the quarter. The expenses included production operations at its Jasmine, Nong Yao, and Manora fields, as well as expenses relating to maintaining the Wassana asset during the precautionary suspension of production operations.

Jasmine field

The Jasmine offshore oilfield is located within block B5/27, at a water depth of about 60 metres. The block covers an area of around 1,931 square kilometres in the Gulf of Thailand.

The Nong Yao field is a producing conventional set of wells located in shallow water offshore Thailand while the Manora field lies in 44 metres water and about 80km from the coast of Thailand.

Valeura’s average realised price for crude oil sales was US$87.8 a barrels in the quarter, reflecting an average premium to the Brent crude oil benchmark of around US$1.3 per barrel.

Valeura, which is based in Calgary, Alberta is carrying out appraisals in the Thrace Basin of northwest Turkey.

The company said this is a potential natural gas area which has under-explored and under-exploited conventional and tight gas plays with the opportunity to deploy technology such as 3D seismic, horizontal drilling and multi-stage fracking.

Thrace activities

“The company had no active operations in Turkey during the third quarter as it continued its search for a farm-in partner to pursue the next phase of work on its tight gas appraisal play in the Thrace Basin, where it holds interests ranging from 63 percent to 100 percent,” Valeura explained.

Oil production amounted to 19,961 barrels a day in the third quarter and adjusted cashflow from operations was US$33.9m.

“I am pleased to announce another stable quarter of production operations, which underscores the long-term, resilient asset base we have assembled in Thailand,” said Sean Guest, President and Chief Executive of Valeura.

“Ongoing infill drilling is replenishing produced volumes and offsetting natural declines, resulting in oil production rates staying in the 20,000 barrels per day range. As a result, we are today re-affirming our 2023 guidance estimates, unchanged,” Guest added.

“Cash flow generation remains strong, and has provided us the ability to pay down debt, cover tax payments, fund the cost of ongoing operations, and still record an increase in our net cash position, which at the end of the quarter stood at US$104 million,” stated the CEO.

Valeura said that the mergers and acquisitions market for additional field assets continued to present “appealing opportunities”.

“We feel it is prudent to ensure our balance sheet is robust, such that we can transact quickly once opportunities arise,” Guest said.