Austral Pacific 2007 Results Filed
March 31 2008 - 10:37PM
PR Newswire (US)
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, March 31 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Austral
Pacific Energy Ltd. (TSX-V: APX; NZSX: APX; Amex: AEN) Austral
Pacific Energy Ltd has filed its annual comparative audited
financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2007.
The financial statements and accompanying management's discussion
and analysis, annual information form, reserves statement and
report and independent evaluator's report on reserves, as required
under National Instruments 51-101 and 51-102 (Canada), are now
available for review on the Company's website and via the SEDAR
(Canada) and EDGAR (US) securities disclosure filings sites, which
can be accessed through http://www.austral-pacific.com/,
http://www.sedar.com/ and
http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm respectively.
Note: all amounts are expressed in US currency. The Company's
operating and financial highlights for the year ended December 31,
2007 included: -- Completing and commissioning permanent production
facilities for the Cheal field; -- Meeting its interim production
goal of 700 barrels of oil per day by year-end; -- Initiating
production testing at Cardiff; -- Placement of $15.5 million (in
cash and assets) of preferred and common shares during the year. --
Subsequent to year end, the Company has also announced: -- The
conditional sale of its PNG Stanley (PRL 4) and PRL 5 assets; -- A
renegotiation and restructuring of the terms of its loan facility
with Investec Bank (Australia) Limited, reducing the debt from
$18.7 million to $11 million. In announcing the results, Austral
CEO Thompson Jewell said, "Equally as important as the production
at Cheal are the proven and probable oil reserves that have been
confirmed as 2.020 mmboe net to the Company. The Independent
Reserves Evaluator's report prepared by Sproule gave a before tax
NPV10 value of $72.25 million for our 2P reserves; a significant
increase on last year's report of $38.85 million, and testament to
the value added to the company." Financial Results The net loss for
the year was $22.0 million ($0.74 per common share) compared with
the loss for 2006 of $13.4 million ($0.57 per common share). The
major movement from the prior year reflects the commissioning of
the Cheal facility and the costs associated with the loan facility.
Net revenues of $5.9 million were offset by initial production
costs ($3.0 million) and depletion ($4.4 million) based on full
capital costs spread over proved developed reserves only. Financing
costs ($4.1 million) associated with the Arrowhead acquisition in
2006 and Cheal project development, and unrealised "hedging" costs
based on the current high oil price ($7.3 million), were
significant expense items for the first time. Commenting on the
financial position of the Company, Mr. Jewell stated, "There is no
doubt that delays in commissioning the Cheal facilities adversely
affected our financial performance in 2007 and give us some short
term liquidity issues. Our bankers have been very supportive of the
project and we are working closely with them. Our recent
announcement showed we will reduce our debt to a more manageable
$11 million and allow us to reinvest our current cash and future
cash flows to grow production to up to 1,000 to 1,400 bopd, and
test the significant potential upside we see in the Cheal area. A 2
to 3 well program is planned to start in Q2 2008. Jewell continued,
"Our strategic intention remains clear and unchanged, and 2008
becomes a critical year to see real delivery of value from the
investments made in 2006-07. I am excited by the 10 or so prospects
that the Cheal/Cardiff Area 3D seismic survey has identified and
matured, that we hope to drill in the next 18 months. This,
together with growing Cheal production in Q2, drilling the Kahili
development well later in the year, and further evaluation of the
Cardiff Field, will add real value. PNG also has long term
potential and we continue to pursue commercial development of the
Douglas gas/condensate discovery." * BOEs may be misleading,
particularly if used in isolation. A BOE conversion ratio of 6
Mcf:1 bbl is based on an energy equivalency conversion method
primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a
value equivalency at the wellhead. Web site:
http://www.austral-pacific.com/ Email: Phone: Thom Jewell, CEO +64
(4) 495 0880 or Brad Holmes: +1 (713) 304 6962 None of the
Exchanges upon which Austral Pacific's securities trade have
approved or disapproved the contents hereof. This release includes
certain statements that may be deemed to be "forward-looking
statements" within the meaning of applicable legislation. Other
than statements of historical fact, all statements in this release
addressing future production, reserve potential, exploration and
development activities and other contingencies are forward-looking
statements. Although management believes the expectations expressed
in such forward-looking statements are based on reasonable
assumptions, such statements are not guarantees of future
performance, and actual results or developments may differ
materially from those in the forward-looking statements, due to
factors such as market prices, exploration and development
successes, continued availability of capital and financing, and
general economic, market, political or business conditions. See our
public filings at http://www.sedar.com/ and
http://www.sec.gov/edgar/searchedgar/webusers.htm for further
information. DATASOURCE: Austral Pacific Energy Ltd CONTACT: Thom
Jewell, CEO, +64 (4) 495 0880, or Brad Holmes, +1-713-304-6962, ,
both of Austral Pacific Energy Ltd Web site:
http://www.austral-pacific.com/
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