Ithaca Energy warns Q1 production will be below full year range

15th Jan 2014 10:52

Ithaca Energy shares dropped on Wednesday after the North Sea oil and gas operator said first quarter production is expected to be below the full year range. The production drop was being driven primarily by an unplanned shutdown of the Cook field, which was the result of on-going repair work on the gas export compressor on the Anasuria FPSO host facility. The group said it anticipated that the duration of the repairs would result in the field being re-started in February 2014.Ithaca also warned of the impact of harsh weather conditions on production at the Fionn field. It said that poor weather in December and January had resulted in operational delays at the ionn field production well, the delivery of which is forecast to substantially boost production. The well is now expected to be in production in the second quarter of the year.For the full year, production is expected to be in the range of 11,000 to 13,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), approximately 95% oil, with volumes weighted towards the second half of 2014. Planned shutdowns are estimated to result in an overall production deferral of around 1,000 boepd in 2014. Net capital expenditure for the year is expected to total around $295m. Ithaca's net drawn debt at the end of 2013 was around $343m, with $710m of ong term senior bank debt financing facilities in place. NR