Sydney, Nov 17, 2005 AEST (ABN Newswire) - Beach Petroleum Limited (ASX: BPT) has set as a target annual production of three million barrels of oil within 18 months as the oil and gas producer and explorer ramps up its exploration and production operations across Australia.
Addressing shareholders today at its 2005 annual general meeting in Adelaide, Beach Petroleum Chairman, Mr Robert Kennedy, said the three million barrel target is a realistic objective for the 2006-2007 financial year. It would be fuelled by the Company's expanding entitlements from the new producing offshore Gippsland oil field interest, and its current core exploration and production interests in the Cooper Eromanga Basin.
Mr Kennedy said the target did not include gas production from Beach Petroleum's anticipated $35 million acquisition of a 40% interest in Brisbane-based Arrow Energy NL's Stage 1 development of the Tipton West coal seam gas (CSG) project in Queensland's Surat Basin. Nor did it include any upside from new discoveries from the Company's aggressive onshore and offshore exploration and development activities in the Cooper, Otway, Browse, Gippsland and Carnarvon Basins.
In what he described as a highly upbeat outlook for Beach Petroleum, Mr Kennedy anounced that the opening quarter for the 2005-2006 financial year had generated sales revenues of $29.4 million, nearly three times that of the previous corresponding quarter and nearly equal to the first half year revenue for 2004-2005 of $30.4 million.
The Company found more oil during the year than it produced driven by new exploration discoveries (51 wells have been drilled by Beach in the past five years with a 43% commercial success rate) With the acquisition of the offshore Gippsland fields, current net oil reserves stood at 13.5 million barrels at the end of the September 2005 quarter, compared to under one million barrels four years ago.
This figure would increase significantly if, subject to current due diligence outcomes, Beach Petroleum proceeded with its Tipton West coal seam gas acquisition with a financial commitment to the project expected next month. This commitment would involve funding the drilling of between 80-90 coal seam gas wells over the next 12 months.
Contact
Reg Nelson
Beach Petroleum Limited
+61 8 8338 2833
Kevin Skinner
Field Public Relations
+61 8 8234 9555/+61 414 822 631
Mark Lindh
Investor Relations
+61 414 551 361
| ||
|
