(Alliance News) - Capricorn Energy PLC said on Tuesday it had been a "transformational year" for the company and noted a positive resolution for its Indian tax dispute.
In 2021, the Edinburgh-based oil and gas company reported revenue of USD57.1 million, up significantly from USD400,000 the previous year.
The company swung to a pretax profit from continuing operations of USD873.7 million in the year from a loss of USD157.3 million.
2P reserves increased by 4.5 million barrels of oil equivalent to 37.4 million barrels of oil equivalent in 2021. Capricorn said this was primarily due to the sale of the UK North Sea assets and the acquisition of the Western Desert Assets in Egypt.
Capricorn received a tax refund of USD1.06 billion from the Indian government in the first quarter of 2022 as a result the company proposed a USD700 million shareholder return programme.
Looking forward, Capricorn said exploration drilling this year will take place in the UK, Mexico and Egypt and focus primarily on shorter capital cycle, infrastructure-led opportunities, with limited capital allocation to more frontier locations.
Chief Executive Simon Thomson said: "2021 was a transformational year for Capricorn; we continued to successfully reshape our portfolio and achieved a positive resolution of our Indian tax dispute.
From the proceeds of asset sales and the Indian tax refund we have committed to nearly USD1 billion of capital returns to shareholders in 2021 and 2022. We acquired an attractive portfolio of low breakeven oil and gas production in Egypt, where we are already delivering production growth and emission reductions, and which has significant further opportunities for value creation."
Shares in Capricorn Energy were down 2.1% at 209.60 pence on Tuesday morning in London.
By Heather Rydings; heatherrydings@alliancenews.com
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Capricorn Energy PLC (CNE)