W&T posts 2Q net loss

W&T Offshore, an independent oil and gas producer with assets in the U.S., both onshore and offshore, has reported a net loss for the second quarter of 2015 of $260.5 million compared to net income of $9.8 million, during the same period in 2014.

Revenues for the second quarter of 2015 were $149.1 million compared to $263.0 million in the second quarter of 2014.  Revenues decreased due to a steep decline in commodity prices, W&T Offshore said in its quarterly report issued Wednesday, August 5. It also noted that crude oil prices were down $43.29 per barrel or 43.3% between the two quarters.

Oil production grew 2.9% versus the second quarter of 2014. In the second quarter of 2015 W&T Offshore produced 1.9 million barrels.

NGL production was 408,000 barrels, down 20.6% from the second quarter of 2014.  Natural gas production was 11.5 billion cubic feet (“Bcf”) for the second quarter of 2015, down 5.5% or 12.2 Bcf from the second quarter of 2014.

Total production was 4.23 million Boe in the second quarter of 2015, down 3.7% from the second quarter of 2014.

Operationally, the company said that development of deepwater Gulf of Mexico discoveries, Dantzler and Big Bend were progressing well. Noble Energy is the operator of these developments.

„The subsea development work to connect the 2012 discovery at Big Bend and the 2013/2014 Dantzler discoveries to the nearby Thunder Hawk platform is ongoing and progressing well. First production is expected in the middle of the fourth quarter of 2015 and ramping up towards peak rates when Dantzler comes online by the end of 2015. The anticipated combined rate from both Dantzler and Big Bend is expected to reach in excess of 8,000 barrels per day, net to our interest (81% oil),“ W&T Offshore said in its quarterly update.

Elsewhere in the Gulf of Mexico, at the Ewing Bank 910 deepwater block, operated by W&T, A rig is currently on location drilling the EW 954 A-8 well. This is the second well in a two-well exploration drilling program. If successful, the A-8 well is expected to be on production by year-end 2015. The first well in the program was the ST 320 A-5 ST well, an exploration well that logged approximately 160 feet of net pay in two zones in the GA-15 target sand, was completed in June 2015.

The A-5 well reached an early IP rate of approximately 2,700 Boe per day gross or 1,350 Boe per day net to our working interest. The currently drilling A-8 well is targeting a deeper exploratory sand and, based on seismic data, has the potential for a larger impact on reserves than the A-5 ST, W&T said.