Last checked at 
LONDON (Alliance News) - Mongolia-focused oil explorer Petro Matad on Friday said its loss widened in the fist half of the year on a range of increased expenses.
The company's USD6.7 million pretax loss was more than two and a half times its USD2.5 million loss the year before.
Exploration expenditure was the largest contributor to the loss, ballooning to USD2.9 million from USD378,000. Employee benefits expenses near-doubled to USD2.1 million from USD1.2 million and other expenses jumped to USD1.7 million from USD836,000.
Petro Matad is in its exploratory stage and is does not currently produce revenue.
In block V, Snow Leopard 1 spudded post year-end in early July and permitting for drilling on the Fox prospect is progressing well with plans to spud in the 2019 second quarter. Furthermore, In block IV, members of the company's community relations team are preparing for rig arrival at Wild Horse 1.
The company has faced challenges at its Block XX license, however, with regulatory delays delaying drill plans. While these regulatory hurdles have now been jumped, Petro Matad is now experiencing difficulties with its contractor. The company has therefore decided to postpone drilling at block XX until the second quarter of 2019 while it re-tenders for drilling services.
"The delay to block XX 2018 drilling is disappointing after the extensive efforts the company has put in to be able to resume operations in the area. However, the delay does offer the chance to exploit logistical, operational and financial synergies to drill the three planned block XX wells back to back during the 2019 drilling season," said Petro Matad Chief Executive Mike Buck.
Shares in Petro Matad were down 1.7% at 8.45 pence on Friday.
