Iona Energy Inc. Announces 2012 Financial Results and Year End Reserves
April 29 2013 - 10:57PM
Marketwired Canada
NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN
UNITED STATES
Iona Energy Inc. ("Iona" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:INA) announces its
financial results for the twelve months ended December 31, 2012 and the
Company's independently evaluated reserves as of the same date.
HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED DECEMBER 31, 2012
Financial
-- Closed a CAD$92 million equity financing of common shares in April 2012.
-- No short or long term debt as at December 31, 2012 (December 31, 2011 -
CAD$Nil).
-- Total assets of CAD$203.5 million (December 31, 2011 - CAD$72.1
million).
-- Net loss of CAD$10.6 million for the year (2011 - CAD$5.1 million).
Operational
-- The Trent and Tyne average production rate over the first 6 months of
2012 was 2.4 MMscf/d. Following the annual shutdown, the average monthly
rate reached 2.8 MMscf/d. The average yearly rate was 1.9 MMscf/d,
mainly due to the production outage for the annual shutdown The average
realized gas price for the year was strong at $9.05/mscf.
-- During August 2012, the Ensco 80 jack-up rig commenced operations to
side-track the Trent & Tyne T6 production gas well with first gas from
the well achieved in January 2013.
-- Completion of the Orlando well and side-track in April 2013 with better
than expected results.
-- The Company performed an engineering and portfolio review and advanced
Orlando development ahead of the Kells Development.
-- Installed process isolation valving and pipework on Ninian Central to
allow future hook up and tie in of Orlando without need for shutdown of
host platform process.
-- Completed the Orlando Environmental Statement and consultation with the
Department of Energy and Climate Change ("DECC") and obtained final
Field Development Approval on April 16, 2013.
-- Iona was awarded three UK North Sea Blocks at 100% working interest,
including two oil discoveries from DECC in the 27th Licencing Round. The
three awarded Blocks, 3/7c (part), 3/8c, and 3/12 (part), are located in
the Northern North Sea, to the south-west of the Ninian field and
immediately adjacent to Iona's 100% Block 3/8d which includes the to-be-
developed "Kells" Oil and Gas field and the "Ossian" Oil discovery.
Acquisitions
-- Completed the acquisition of the 100% operated interest in the Kells
field in the first quarter. Exploration operatorship application was
approved by DECC and the Company submitted an FDP and Environmental
Statement to DECC during the year.
-- Completed the purchase of its partners' interests, MPX North Sea Limited
("MPX") (30%) and Sorgenia E&P (UK) Ltd ("Sorgenia") (35%), in the
Orlando Oil field during the third quarter of 2012 in exchange for the
payment of historical costs and future payments out of production.
-- Completed the acquisition of an operated 58.73% interest in U.K. Block
13/21a containing the West Wick Oil Field from Centrica Venture
Production Company ("CVPC") in the third quarter.
-- On December 28, 2012, the Company entered into a definitive Sale and
Purchase Agreement with Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. ("Carrizo") to acquire
the entire share capital of its wholly owned subsidiary, Carrizo UK
Huntington Ltd ("Carrizo UK"), including its 15% interest in License
P1114 of UK North Sea Block 22/14b including the near-producing
Huntington oil field development ("Huntington"). The deal completed on
February 22, 2013.
Corporate
-- Mr. Alan Curran joined the Company as Chief Operating Officer in March
2012.
-- In March 2012, the UK Government doubled the Small Field Allowance
("SFA") tax shelter from GBP 75 million to GBP 150 million, which is
expected to benefit Iona but has not yet been applied to any of Iona's
qualifying properties. Iona's Orlando and Kells fields will each qualify
for SFA, representing a total of GBP 300 million of supplementary charge
tax shelter.
-- 17,280,000 and 150,000 stock options were granted during the second and
third quarters of 2012 respectively.
-- During September 2012, the UK Government announced the Brown Field
Allowance ("BFA"), which is a new tax relief to encourage investment in
older oil and gas fields. The BFA will shield up to GBP 250m of income
in qualifying brown field projects, or GBP 500m for projects in fields
paying Petroleum Revenue Tax, from the 32% Supplementary Charge rate
(providing tax relief of up to GBP 80m or GBP 160m respectively). The
Company welcomes this announcement and hopes to utilize it on its
qualifying projects in the future.
-- On December 13, 2012 the Company announced that it had entered into a
definitive agreement for the sale of a 25% non-operated working interest
in each of its 100% owned Orlando and Kells fields. The sale to Volantis
Exploration Limited completed on February 21, 2013 for total gross
proceeds of USD$34 million on close and a pro-rata share of future
staged payment obligations: USD$1.25 million upon Kells FDP approval;
and staged payments commencing six months after first production from
Orlando of USD$1.8 million, USD$1.8 million, USD$1.8 million, USD$0.925
million, and USD$0.925 million made every six months thereafter.
Reserves
-- Company reserves assessed by Gaffney, Cline & Associates Ltd at the end
of 2012:
-- Net 1P Reserves increased 494% to 18.4 million barrels of oil
equivalent ("mmboe") (2011: 3.1 mmboe)
-- Net 2P Reserves(i) increased 497% to 35.8 mmboe (2011: 6.0 mmboe)
-- Net 3P Reserves increased 465% to 46.9 mmboe (2011: 8.3 mmboe)
-- Net 2P Reserves Pre-Tax Net Present Value (assuming a discount rate
of 10%) increased 548% to USD$1,185 million (2011: USD$183 million)
(i)2P Reserves comprises 82% oil and 18% natural gas
Post Year End
-- On January 14, 2013, the Company announced that the 44/18-T6 ("T6") well
on the Tyne Gas Field had been completed as a production well and had
successfully flow tested at an average rate of 25 million standard cubic
feet per day ("MMscf/d") with a peak rate of 28 MMscf/d. Iona owns a 20%
non-operated working interest in both the Trent & Tyne Gas Fields with
an option to increase interest in both fields to 37.5%.
-- In February 2013, the Company closed a bought-deal private placement of
common shares (the "Offering"). An aggregate amount of CAD$23 million
was raised pursuant to the Offering.
-- The Company completed a USD$60 million structured energy derivative
transaction with Britannic Trading Ltd., a subsidiary of BP
International Limited in February 2013 for notional quantities of
1,360,072 and 6,746,231 barrels of Brent blend crude oil over the period
April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014 and April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2018 and
strike prices of USD$100 and USD$95 respectively.
-- The Company also entered into a Marketing and Off-take Agreement with BP
Oil International Limited in February 2013.
-- On February 22, 2013, the Company announced the closing of its
previously announced Senior Secured Borrowing Base Facility for up to
USD$250 million of which USD$150 million is currently available with the
Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Lloyds TSB Bank plc and BNP Paribas and
entered into hedging contracts with these banks for a total of 1,330,791
barrels of oil over the period April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014 at a
strike price of USD$100.
-- The Huntington Field commenced production on April 12, 2013. The field
has been developed through four production and two water-injection wells
and is tied back to Teekay's Floating Production Storage and Offloading
("FPSO") vessel, the Voyager Spirit, with production capacity of 30,000
barrels of oil per day and 27 million standard cubit feet of gas per
day.
-- On March 5, 2013, 7,420,000 of stock options were granted at a price of
$0.63 per share.
-- At the beginning of April 2013, Brad Gunn, Chief Financial Officer
("CFO") resigned as CFO for personal reasons and Graham Heath, currently
Iona's VP Corporate Development, has assumed the position of interim CFO
until the Company finds a suitable replacement. Also, Don Copeland,
currently a member of the Company's Board of Directors, has been
appointed as the non-executive chairman of the Board of Directors.
Notes:
The Company's petroleum and natural gas reserves (the "reserves") were
independently evaluated by Gaffney, Cline & Associates Ltd ("GCA") in accordance
with the Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook ("COGEH") reserves definitions
and evaluation practices and procedures as specified by National Instrument 51-
101 ("NI 51-101"). The evaluation uses GCA's forecast prices and costs at
December 31, 2012. The Company's Form 51-101F1 Statement of reserves data for
the year ended December 31, 2012 ("Statement of Reserves Data"), which includes
the disclosure and reports relating to reserves data and other oil and gas
information along with the Form 51-101F2 Report on Reserves Data by GCA and Form
51-101F3 Report of Management and Directors on Reserves Data and Other
Information are available for review at www.sedar.com.
Further details on the above are provided in the Consolidated Financial
Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the year ended December
31, 2012, which have been filed with securities regulatory authorities in
Canada. These documents are available on the System for Electronic Document
Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website:
www.ionaenergy.com.
Iona is an oil and natural gas acquisition, appraisal, and development
corporation active through its 100% wholly owned United Kingdom subsidiary, Iona
Energy Company (UK) Ltd. in the United Kingdom's Continental Shelf ("UKCS").
Forward-looking statements
Some of the statements in this announcement are forward-looking, including
statements regarding Iona's plans for the development of its properties,
anticipated effects of the UK small field allowance, and estimates of the net
present value of future net revenue of proved and probable reserves from Iona's
properties. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding the intent,
belief and current expectations of Iona Energy Inc. or its officers with respect
to various matters. When used in this announcement, the words "expects,"
"believes," "anticipate," "plans," "may," "will," "should", "scheduled",
"targeted", "estimated" and similar expressions, and the negatives thereof,
whether used in connection with estimated production levels and future activity
or otherwise, are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Such
statements are not promises or guarantees, and are subject to risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual outcome to differ materially from those
suggested by any such statements, including without limitation, the risk that
Iona's development plans change as a result of new information or events, and
the risk that drilling results differ materially from management's current
estimates. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this
announcement. Iona 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.
Note: "Boe" means barrel of oil equivalent on the basis of 6 mcf of natural gas
to 1 bbl of oil. 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.
It should not be assumed that the present worth of estimated future net revenue
represents the fair market value of the reserves disclosed in this press
release. The reserve and related revenue estimates set forth in this press
release are estimates only and the actual reserves and realized revenue may be
greater or less than those calculated. The estimates of reserves and future net
revenue for individual properties may not reflect the same confidence level as
estimates of reserves and future net revenue for all properties, due to the
effects of aggregation. As used in this press release, "possible reserves" are
those additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered than probable
reserves. There is a 10% probability that the quantities actually recovered will
equal or exceed the sum of proved plus probable plus possible reserves.
Additionally, this press release uses certain abbreviations as follows:
Oil and Natural Gas Liquids Natural Gas
----------------------------- ----------------------------------------------
bbls barrels mcf thousand cubic feet
Mbbls thousand barrels mcf/d thousand cubic feet per day
MMbbls million barrels scf standard cubic foot
bbls/d barrels per day MMscf millions of standard cubic feet
bopd barrels of oil per day MMscf/d millions of standard cubic feet per
day
NGLs natural gas liquids Bscf billion standard cubic feet
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
Iona Energy Inc.
Neill A. Carson
Chief Executive Officer
+011 (44) 7919 057989
Iona Energy Inc.
Graham Heath
Interim Chief Financial Officer
(403) 605-6726
info@ionaenergy.com
www.ionaenergy.com