ABERDEEN, SCOTLAND--(Marketwire - Oct 10, 2012) -
Not for Distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for
Dissemination in the United States
Ithaca Energy Inc.
Q3-2012 Production, Athena Operations Update and Q4-2012
Production Outlook
10th October 2012
Ithaca Energy reports third quarter 2012 ("Q3-2012" or the "quarter")
production results and provides an update on Athena operations.
Highlights
o Q3-2012 average production of 5,061 barrels of oil equivalent per
day ("boepd"), an increase of 28% on the second quarter of 2012
("Q2-2012").
o Production performance in Q3-2012 reflects the first full quarter's
contribution from the Athena field and strong performance from the
Beatrice and Jacky fields, which have compensated for the
anticipated reduction in Cook and Broom production during the
quarter due to planned maintenance shutdowns.
o Production from the Athena field has now stabilised at a gross
daily rate of between 10,000 and 11,000 barrels of oil per day
("bopd"), 2,250 to 2,475 bopd net to Ithaca. The field continues
to produce "dry" oil, and a total of over 1.2 million barrels
have been produced since field start-up.
o The Company's net production in the fourth quarter of 2012
("Q4-2012") is forecast to be in the range of 6,300 to 6,900 boepd,
including the net contribution anticipated from the Cook and
MacCulloch field interests being acquired from Noble Energy Inc.
Q3-2012 Production
Production volumes in the quarter came from the operated Athena,
Beatrice, Jacky and Anglia fields and the non-operated Cook, Broom and
Topaz fields. Total net export production in Q3-2012 was 465,612
barrels of oil equivalent, resulting in an average rate of 5,061 boepd,
with approximately 90% being oil production. This represents a 28%
increase on production in the second quarter of 2012 (Q2-2012: 3,966
boepd).
Production from the Beatrice complex during Q3-2012 has benefited from
various activities undertaken in the second quarter of 2012.
Performance of produced water treatment facilities has been improved
and the overall platform uptime enhanced through the completion of well
optimisation activities at the Beatrice Alpha and Bravo platforms.
Total production during the quarter was impacted by a major planned
maintenance shutdown of the Shell operated Anasuria Floating
Production, Storage and Offloading vessel ("FPSO"), the host facility
for the Cook field. The shutdown has recently ended in early October
2012, having taken approximately 70 days to complete, rather than the
Operator's estimated duration of approximately 50 days. In addition,
production during the quarter was impacted by the commencement of a
planned maintenance shutdown of the host facility serving the Broom
field in late-September and unplanned downtime at both the Topaz and
Anglia fields. In total, the shutdowns have reduced the potential net
average export production over the quarter by approximately 1,100
boepd.
Athena Operations Update
The Athena field commenced production in late May 2012. The early part
of Q3-2012 was focused on completing and optimising the post start-up
activities required to deliver stable and efficient operations from the
wells and the BW Athena FPSO. As previously announced, well
intervention activities were performed on the "P1" well during the
quarter to eliminate a blockage in the production tubing of the well.
Well operations were partially successful and P1 is now onstream. A
decision has been made by the Athena co-venturers not to perform a rig
based workover on P1 to fully remove the blockage as the reserves
associated with the well are anticipated to be recovered by the
existing wells on the field.
Reservoir performance, including the continued production of dry oil,
provides a positive signal for the longer term potential of the field.
The timing of water breakthrough at the Athena wells, along with the
efficiency of the sweep of oil through the reservoir assisted by water
injection, will be key to predicting the ultimate field production
profile.
Q4-2012 Production Outlook
Fourth quarter net average export production is anticipated to be in
the range of 6,300 to 6,900 boepd, including approximately 1,000 boepd
of net production anticipated from the interests in the Cook and
MacCulloch fields that are being acquired from Noble Energy Inc. The
production guidance range reflects the impact of the scheduled Beatrice
and Jacky maintenance shutdown (forecast to be approximately 20 days)
in Q4-2012 and both the ongoing Broom field maintenance shutdown and
activities on the facilities serving the Anglia field, which are
anticipated to curtail production until late October.
Enquiries:
Ithaca Energy:
Iain McKendrick, CEO imckendrick@ithacaenergy.com +44 (0) 1224 650 261
Graham Forbes, CFO gforbes@ithacaenergy.com +44 (0) 1224 652 151
John Woods, CDO jwoods@ithacaenergy.com +44 (0) 1224 650 273
FTI Consulting:
Billy Clegg billy.clegg@fticonsulting.com +44 (0) 207 269 7157
Edward Westropp edward.westropp@fticonsulting.com +44 (0) 207 269 7230
Georgia Mann georgia.mann@fticonsulting.com +44 (0) 207 269 7212
Cenkos Securities plc:
Jon Fitzpatrick jfitzpatrick@cenkos.com +44 (0) 207 397 8900
Ken Fleming kfleming@cenkos.com +44 (0) 131 220 6939
RBC Capital Markets:
Tim Chapman tim.chapman@rbccm.com +44 (0) 207 653 4641
Matthew Coakes matthew.coakes@rbccm.com +44 (0) 207 653 4871
Notes to oil and gas disclosure:
In accordance with AIM Guidelines, John Horsburgh, BSc (Hons)
Geophysics (Edinburgh), MSc Petroleum Geology (Aberdeen) and Subsurface
Manager at Ithaca is the qualified person that has reviewed the
technical information contained in this press release. Mr Horsburgh has
over 15 years operating experience in the upstream oil industry.
The term "boe" may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A
boe conversion 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.
About Ithaca Energy:
Ithaca Energy Inc. (TSX: IAE, LSE AIM: IAE) and its wholly owned
subsidiary Ithaca Energy (UK) Limited ("Ithaca" or "the Company"), is
an oil and gas operator focused on production, appraisal and
development activities on the United Kingdom Continental Shelf. The
goal of Ithaca, in the near term, is to maximize production and achieve
early production from the development of existing discoveries on
properties held by Ithaca, to originate and participate in exploration
and appraisal on properties held by Ithaca when capital permits, and to
consider other opportunities for growth as they are identified from
time to time by Ithaca.
Not for Distribution to U.S. Newswire Services or for Dissemination in
the United States
Forward-looking statements
Some of the statements in this announcement are forward-looking.
Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the intent,
belief and current expectations of Ithaca Energy Inc. or its officers
with respect to various matters. When used in this announcement, the
words "anticipate", "continue", "estimate", "expect", "may",
"will","project", "plan", "should", "believe", "could", "target" and
similar
expressions, and the negatives thereof, whether used in connection with
production and operation activities or otherwise are intended to
identify forward-looking statements. Such statements are not promises
or guarantees, and are subject to known and unknown risks and
uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events
to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking
statements or information. These forward-looking statements speak only
as of the date of this announcement. Ithaca Energy Inc. expressly
disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates
or revisions to any forward-looking statement contained herein to
reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto or any
change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any
forward-looking statement is based except as required by applicable
securities laws.
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