Austral's 2006 Results Filed
March 30 2007 - 2:00AM
PR Newswire (US)
WELLINGTON, New Zealand, March 30 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Austral
Pacific Energy Ltd. (TSX-V and NZSX: APX; Amex: AEN) Austral
Pacific Energy Ltd. has now filed its annual comparative audited
financial statements for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2006.
The financial statements and accompanying management's discussion
and analysis, annual information form, reserves statement and
report and independent evaluator's report on reserves (all 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$ Financial Results The net
loss for the year was $13.4 million ($0.57 per common share)
compared with the restated loss for 2005 of $5.7 million ($0.30 per
common share). The major portion of the movement from the prior
year reflects the increased level of exploration activity
undertaken by the company during 2006. Commencing in the year ended
December 31, 2006 the Company changed the manner in which it
accounts for exploration activities by adopting the "successful
efforts" basis of accounting. The accounting impact of adopting
this basis is that all exploration costs are written off unless the
expenditure results in the recognition of Proven Reserves within 12
months of the expenditure having been incurred. The previous
accounting policy was to use the "full cost" method whereby
exploration expenditure was capitalised and not written off until
the well or permit was abandoned. Oil Reserves An independent
assessment has assigned total Proven Undeveloped Reserves of 1.643
million barrels oil equivalent (Austral share 69.5% or 1.142
million barrels oil equivalent) to the Cheal field. This is a 3.4%
increase on 2005 levels. The pre tax value at a 10% discount factor
of the Proven and Probable reserves is $38 million. Financial
position The Company's asset portfolio and financial position has
advanced in several areas: - In December 2006 the Company acquired
the shares of Arrowhead Energy Limited, which holds interests in
the permits over the Cheal and Kahili fields, increasing the
Company's interests in those fields from 36.5% to 69.5% and 60% to
85% respectively. - In December 2006 the Company secured a $23
million loan facility to fund the acquisition of Arrowhead Energy
Limited and the development of the Cheal field. Of this amount
$15.7 million has been drawn down. - In October 2006 the Company
raised $6.5 million by the issue of 5 million shares Cash and cash
equivalents of $7.1 million were held at 31 December 2006 (2005
$15.3 million). Operations Development of the Cheal field commenced
in July 2006. The construction plan is proceeding as planned and
following commissioning of the plant in late 2Q 2007 a production
rate of 1,900 barrels of oil per day is projected to be achieved by
4Q 2007. The Douglas-1 exploration well in Papua New Guinea was
drilled during 2Q 2006. The well was determined to be a gas
discovery but is suspended pending further analysis.
Commercialisation studies have resulted in the Company signing a
Memorandum of Understanding with Alcan South Pacific to investigate
the supply of natural gas to the Gove Refinery in the Northern
Territory of Australia. Results of flow testing of the McKee sands
in Cardiff-2, undertaken during 2006, demonstrated sufficient
commerciality to secure a mining permit. Current simulation studies
will determine the form of further testing to be carried out in the
second half of 2007 on the deeper K3E zone in which the majority of
the gas/condensate resource is mapped. Looking Forward During 2007
the Company has plans to progress the following programmes: -
Completion of the development of the Cheal field - Drilling of
Kahili-2 - Conduct further testing of the Cardiff field - In PNG
progress a programme to prove up the Douglas-1 discovery, and drill
appraisal wells, Douglas-2 and Puk Puk - Continuation of the
exploration programme in Taranaki David Newman, Chairman of
Austral, commenting on 2006 stated, "Last year marked a number of
significant changes for the company as we advanced towards our near
term goal of sustainable oil and gas production. We now have a
solid understanding of our asset base and have focused on
increasing our interests in strategic properties while looking for
complementary acquisitions. We were able to leverage our assets
with a credit line in order to minimize shareholder dilution and we
did so with confidence in the outlook for energy. We have our
challenges managing the transition to emerging producer status, and
we will need to recruit senior management. However, we know that
2007 is filled with promise for Austral". $3.25 Million financing
Austral has reached agreement with a group of accredited investors
in New Zealand to privately place 2.5 million ordinary shares at a
price of $1.30 per share. Substantially all the shares were
subscribed for by existing shareholders of the Company including
Wellington based Infratil Limited. The proceeds will be used in
connection with the Cheal field development and for working capital
purposes. The placement is subject to regulatory approvals expected
in the ordinary course. The shares will not be offered or sold in
the United States and will not be registered under the 1933
Securities Act (US). The shares will be subject to a four month
resale restriction in Canada. Web site:
http://www.austral-pacific.com/ Email: Phone: Rick Webber, CEO +64
(4) 495 0880; David Newman, Chairman +64 (4) 495 0880 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: Rick
Webber, CEO, +64 (4) 495 0880, David Newman, Chairman, +64 (4) 495
0880, both of Austral Pacific Energy Ltd., Web site:
http://www.austral-pacific.com/
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