Petrel, the AIM listed oil explorer and developer focused on Iraq, has announced a pre-tax loss of €244,065 for the year ending December 2003. This compares to a loss of €238,080 the previous year.
The company reported a loss per share of 48 cent, down from a loss of 54 cent in 2002.
During the year, Petrel said it had made significant progress towards the goal of becoming an Iraqi oil producer. It has submitted tenders to develop significant oil fields in the Kirkuk area of Northern Iraq and the Hamrin area of Central Iraq.
The final tender, to redevelop and refurbish the Subba and Luhais fields in Southern Iraq, was submitted in June. Each project envisages oil production in excess of 100,000 barrels a day.
'All of this was achieved in the midst of almost total chaos and at significant personal risk to our directors, David Horgan and Guy Delbes, who travel to Iraq on a frequent basis,' Chairman John Teeling said in the company's results statement.
He said that Petrel committed to Iraq in 1998. 'We have maintained this commitment through sanctions, the war, its aftermath, and more importantly, we have remained steadfast in the face of shareholder and investor belief'.
'This is now changing. Our share has been one of the best performing on the AIM in the last 18 months, rising 10 fold in price. Financial institutions and multinational oil companies now request an audience,' he said.
The Petrel chairman said the shareholders, investors and oil industry competitors realise that Petrel is one of the few, if not the only western oil company, to have maintained an ongoing dialogue with the Iraq Oil Ministry.
'We believe that Iraq is the best oil province in the world,' he stated. 'Known resources of 115 billion barrels are only a fraction of what might be there. Much of the country remains unexplored at surface and at depth'.
Petrel's three projects could be production within 24 months. Petrel said it is well placed to be an early beneficiary of the new Iraqi regime, with the sovereign government taking control from July 1. It says it believes that financing success in Iraq will not be a problem for the company.
The company also has interests in Sudan and is at an early stage in looking at oil and gas projects in the other Middle East countries.
'After years in the desert, literally and metaphorically, our time is coming,' Mr Teeling said. 'The world needs more oil, Iraq has the oil. A growing oil industry will be the engine of Iraqi development. I fully expect Petrel to participate in this development,' he concluded.
