Ivory Coast Discovery For Anadarko Amid First-Quarter Losses

Suffering somewhat from first quarter losses reported on Monday, it’s good news for Anadarko in the Ivory Coast, where it has successfully drilled its first horizontal deep-water well, hitting oil pay.

Houston-based Anadarko has run into 100 feet of net, true vertical thickness (TVT) oil pay on the Paon-5A well using the Bolette Dolphin drillship, according to a Q1 operations report.

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The company says that it is currently drilling the Paon-3A horizontal sidetrack and then will move on to a drill stem and interference test, but it’s expecting that this will bring it closer to commerciality.

Two exploration wells, Pelican and Rossignol, are planned after completion of the Paon appraisal program, the company added.

Anadarko expects to pump 71 to 73 million barrels of oil equivalent in the second quarter and 282 to 286 million barrels for the year.

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On Monday, Anadarko reported a first-quarter adjusted net loss of $1.12 on revenues of $1.67 billion.

The company reported an adjusted diluted loss per share of $0.72 on revenues of $2.32 billion. Estimates from Thomson Reuters for the first quarter showed a net loss of $1.16 and $1.81 billion in revenue. On a GAAP basis Anadarko’s first-quarter loss totaled $2.03 per share. The company took a pre-tax impairment charge of $3.72 billion in the first quarter.

“During the first quarter, we maintained strong operating performance and continued to improve our cost structure and efficiencies, while taking significant steps to strengthen our financial position without diluting equity. Year to date, we’ve closed monetizations totaling $1.3 billion and are currently in the process of advancing another $700-plus millions of divestitures. We’ve also removed perceived uncertainty by issuing $3.0 billion of investment-grade bonds to refinance near-term maturities. Additionally, the dividend reduction and the restructuring of our workforce together are expected to provide approximately $800 million of available cash on an annualized basis”, CEO Al Walker said.

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Anadarko also offered updates on its operations in Ghana and the Gulf of Mexico. In Ghana, Anadarko’s 80,000 barrel/day TEN project is more than 90 percent complete and remains on track with subsea installations more than 80 percent complete.

It also encountered more than 400 feet of net of TVT oil pay in its sixth well in the Gulf of Mexico and is now producing more than 8,000 boe/d.

By James Burgess Of Oilprice.com

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