Xcite Energy widens first quarter losses

20th May 2013 09:17

Xcite Energy widened its first quarter losses as the oil company was hit by a stronger US dollar against the pound.Net loss in the first three months of the year came to £1.7m, up from a loss of £0.05m the previous year.The company had £20.4m cash at the end of the period, of which £12.3m was held in escrow relating to the Bentley Phase 1A work programme.The Bentley field's 1P (proven reserves), 2P (proven and probable reserves) and 3P (proven, probable and possible reserves) were upgraded to 198m stock tank barrels (mmstb), 250 mmstb and 312 mmstb, respectively, based on an initial 35-year production.Total net assets at the end of the quarter were £204.5m compared with £205.8m at the end of the December and £179.2m for the same quarter a year earlier.Separately, the firm announced its subsidiary, Xcite Energy Resources entered into an agreement for the sale of certain technical data in the Bentley 9/03b-6, 6Z well, and the 9/03b-7 and 7Z extended pre-production well test.Under the agreement, the company will receive $15m in respect of the well data and associated interpretation work. An additional $1.0m will be made to Xcite Energy Resources after certain regulatory milestones are achieved by the undisclosed purchaser."We are very pleased to have completed this agreement, which is complementary to the recently commenced farm-out process, and further validates the quality of the information collected from our two well programmes," said Chief Executive Officer, Rupert Cole."This has been done without compromising the company's intellectual property and is a good commercial outcome that provides additional working capital."Shares rose 11.35% to 103p at 09:42 Monday.RD