Iona: Huntington Production Resumed

Iona Energy Inc. (“Iona” or the “Company”) announces an operational update related to its Huntington Oil Field located in the UK North Sea.

During Q4 2013, Iona produced on average 3,280 boepd as Huntington ramp-up continued to increase following the previously announced curtailment of production by the operator of the Central Area Transmission System from mid-September to late November 2013. Following a period of inclement weather in December, Huntington returned to plateau production levels and was producing in excess of 34,500 boepd (6,100 boepd net to Iona) at year end. The Huntington reservoir and FPSO continued to perform well, with Q4 2013 system availability of 94%. January has seen peak production above 35,450 boepd (6,220 boepd net to Iona) with average production net to Iona of approximately 4,100 boepd to January 15th, 2014. Production was restricted from January 15th due to the FPSO storage tanks being full and extreme weather preventing the shuttle tanker connecting for offloading. The 16th cargo from Huntington has now been off-loaded and as of January 28th production has resumed.

Huntington has now passed the milestone of producing 3 million barrels of oil with Iona’s net share of production being more than 0.5 million barrels of oil and 0.3 bcf of gas. Average realized oil prices remain at a premium to Brent and recent realized gas prices have averaged USD10.50/mcf.

The working interests in the Huntington field are E.ON E&P UK Ltd (25% Operator), Premier Oil plc (40%), Noreco Oil (UK) Limited (20%), and Iona (15%). In addition to the working interest, Iona holds a gross overriding royalty of 2.55% of the total Huntington production, payable from the Huntington Joint Venture Partners.

Press Release, January 31, 2014; Image: Noreco