LONDON (Alliance News) - Ophir Energy PLC said Thursday its search for a new chief executive officer is underway as the company embarks on a new strategic review to take advantage of the "inherent value" in its asset base.
Ophir said it has an operating asset base capable of delivering free cash flow of USD300 million over the next three years.
As a result, the company is launching a new strategy that includes the USD205 million purchase of assets from Santos and will include moving its headquarters from London to Asia in the next 12 months.
For this reason, Ophir believe it is "likely" its new CEO will be based at the company's new headquarters in Asia. Former CEO Nicholas Cooper stepped down in May, but is staying with the firm temporarily to help with the handover.
As part of its new strategy, Ophir will look to minimise its exposure to frontier exploration and instead focus on nearer field exploration.
The company believes the value of its liquefied natural gas assets "is not today reflected" in its share price - and will "consider options to unlock the potential value" of those assets in a "rapidly improving liquefied natural gas landscape".
Ophir also posted its interim results Thursday, showing a widened loss due to a USD310 million impairment on its Fortuna operations in Equatorial Guinea.
In the six months ended June, Ophir's pretax loss from continuing operations widened significantly to USD340.7 million from USD45.6 million.
The company attributed this to the Fortuna impairment after Ophir's joint venture partner OneLNG dissolved.
Ophir's first half revenue increased 16% to USD102.1 million from USD88.3 million, largely due to an increase in production.
The company produced an average of 11,400 barrels of oil per day equivalent, which was above expectations, up from 11,300 barrels of oil per day equivalent a year prior.
Ophir said the increase was due to its Bualuang field, which produced less oil than last year, managing to outperform against its budgeted production.
Looking ahead, the company expects its pro-forma production to be 27,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day. On an actual basis, production is expected to be 17,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Interim CEO Alan Booth said: "The board is rebalancing the company's portfolio towards a larger Asian production and cash flow base with the aim of building a stable, self-financing exploration and production company. The recent acquisition of assets from Santos is a considerable step towards this goal, doubling our production and operating cash flow.
"On Fortuna, we are continuing to work to deliver value for our shareholders whilst we are in possession of the licence. Reflecting the uncertainty surrounding this however, we have impaired the value of the asset to USD300 million."
Shares in Ophir were down 0.4% Thursday at 37.85 pence each.
