Sector News

Losses almost halved at Dublin-based exploration company Falcon Oil & Gas in the first nine months of the year to $2 million (€1.87m) from $3.97 million (€3.72m) for the same period in 2014.

The company, which is chaired by industry veteran John Craven, said general and administrative expenses fell by 41 per cent during the nine months to the end of September to $1.8 million from $3.1 million a year earlier.

The firm’s cash and cash deposits balance stood at $9.8 million as of September 30th, compared to $10.5 million at the end of June.

Falcon, which trades in Dublin, London and Tornoto, has interests in approximately 12.3 million gross acres in three major exploration projects in Australia, South Africa and Hungary.

Chief executive Philip O’Quigley said that during the period under review Falson had seen some encouraging results from the drilling of its first three well in the Beetaloo basin, located about 500km southeast of Darwin in Australia’s Northern Territory

“Excellent gas shows have been encountered which demonstrate a high level of gas saturation and is a strong indication of the potential prospectively of our Beetaloo acreage,” he said.

The company also said it expects licences to be issued for South Africa’s shale sector next year. Falcon, which already has a technical permit to assess the Karoo area, said in the summer it was set to enter negotiations with the government on terms for a licence to explore for shale gas.

Mr O’Quigley said the group was uniquely placed in this challenging oil price environment given its strong cash position, fully funded drilling programme and high quality assets.

Source: Irish Times