InterOil Corporation announced financial and operating results for the third quarter ended September 30, 2012 and also certain recent developments.
Third Quarter 2012 Highlights and Recent Developments
InterOil’s Chief Executive Officer Phil Mulacek commented, “We are pleased with the progress in our negotiations with the Government of PNG related to our proposal to develop a 3.8 million tonne per annum LNG project in the Gulf Province.”
As to the Antelope-3 well, Mr. Mulacek noted that, “We are very encouraged by the progress in drilling the Antelope-3 well to near the top of the reservoir. This well is expected to further appraise our resourses.
Our prospect inventory is maturing and we anticipate that it will support our goal of a multi-year, multi-well exploration program. We believe that these achievements, combined with our strong balance sheet, support our continued growth and operational success.”
Midstream Liquefaction
Following receipt of the required PNG Government approvals, InterOil will be able to conclude the LNG partnering process. Company has made significant progress with FEED engineering studies, construction of roads and camps, social mapping and genealogical studies, which will assist in the partnering and execution of the project.
The Company’s Midstream Liquefaction business generated a net loss of $0.6 million in the third quarter of 2012 compared with a loss of $4.0 million in the same period a year ago. The positive variance is largely due to a decrease in office, administration and other expenses related to the midstream facilities of the LNG Project development which are not capitalized.
Downstream
Total Downstream sales volumes for the quarter ended September 30, 2012 were 185.0 million litres, an increase of 22.5 million litres, or 13.8%, over the same quarter in 2011.
PNG economy remains strong with continued robust activity in the resource sector although this is tempered by certain construction projects for the ExxonMobil LNG project now nearing an end.
InterOil’s Downstream operations generated a net profit of $5.6 million in the third quarter of 2012, an improvement of $4.5 million versus a profit of $1.1 million in the previous year.
Corporate
The Corporate segment generated a net profit of $7.8 million in the third quarter of 2012, compared to a net loss of $0.5 million in the same period of 2011. The positive variance is largely the result of a decreased loss on FLEX LNG investment.
[mappress] LNG World News Staff, November 15, 2012