InterOil Corporation reported a net loss for the first quarter of 2015 of US$21.9 million compared to a net profit of $318.6 million for the first quarter of 2014.
Most of this loss resulted from expensing $19.3 million of seismic that the company acquired over its extensive exploration portfolio during the quarter, the company said in a statement.
However, the company stressed that the promising appraisal results of the Elk-Antelope gas field in Papua New Guinea are sufficient to underpin a multi-train LNG project.
InterOil Chief Executive Michael Hession said well results from Antelope-5 had been very encouraging.
“Drilling results from Antelope-5 identify this well as having the best reservoir thickness, quality and fracture density of all wells drilled on the Elk-Antelope field,” Hession said.
Under the initial clean-up flow, the flow rate at Antelope-5 has been constrained to a maximum rate of about 74 million standard cubic feet a day.
Initial results at Antelope-4 have provided strong indications of a high-quality reservoir with a gross gas column of at least 300 meters.
The PRL15 joint venture will also drill Antelope-6 to provide enhanced structural control and further definition of reservoir extent and quality.
“These appraisal results underpin a multi-train development at Elk-Antelope and the quantification of volumes in this world-class resource,” Hession said.
In addition to Elk-Antelope, InterOil will continue to appraise the resource at the Triceratops field and will resume exploration drilling at Wahoo-1 around mid-year.
“With $628 million of liquidity, InterOil is well positioned to move into this next phase of growth,” Hession said.