The oil and gas company, Europa, recorded a pre-tax loss of £1.9m for the year to 31 July.
The accounts, published this morning also saw revenue fall to £1.3m (down from 2.2m for the same period in 2015).
Europa Oil & Gas (Holdings) plc said it had cut operating costs and administrative expenses by about a third but net cash balances were down from £3.2m for the previous year to £1.7m.
The share price (at the time of writing) was unchanged on Friday’s close at 4.75p.
Drilling and production plans
The accounts included updates on Europa’s onshore interests across England.
Lincolnshire
Europa said it hoped production from the Wressle oil discovery in North Lincolnshire would begin in early 2017. It submitted a planning application in June 2016 but no decision has yet been reached. The company has predicted production of 500 barrels of oil a day.
In licence area PEDL181, which includes the abandoned Kiln Lane well, Europa has relinquished 380km2 of area. The 160km2 it has retained give access, it said, to potential conventional and unconventional hydrocarbons in the Humber basin.
Surrey
The accounts said drilling of the Holmwood (also called Bury Hill Wood) oil exploration well near Dorking would begin in 2017. Europa is the operator with a 32.5% interest in the licence, PEDL143. Its contribution to drilling the well is 25% and will be capped at £3.2m.
East Yorkshire
The accounts confirmed the company had not taken up PEDL286 around Goole, in the southern Cleveland Basin, offered in last year’s 14th round.
North Yorkshire
Europa’s interest in another 14th round licence, the Third Energy operated PEDL343, in Scarborough district, had increased from 22.5-45%. This follows the acquisition last August of Shale Petroleum (UK) Limited. The licence area includes the Cloughton gas discovery.
East Midlands
The acquisition also saw Europa’s interest in the INEOS-operated PEDL200 in Derbyshire from 16.66%-33.32%, the accounts confirm. Europa said the focus of interest was the Hardstoft oil field. This was discovered in 1919 and contains the UK’s first exploration well.
According to the accounts, production from Europa’s West Firsby, Crosby Warren and Whisby-4 fields declined to 123 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), down from 141boepd in 2015.
Company comment
Europa’s chief executive, Hugh Mackay, said this morning:
“In the face of difficult market conditions for the oil and gas sector we have delivered strong performance. We have reduced costs by one third, our UK production is set to double, we are preparing to drill a high impact well onshore UK at Holmwood, we have delivered three deals, landed seven new licences in the UK and Ireland and perhaps most importantly built a leading position in Atlantic Ireland”.
Categories: Industry
DRILL OR DROP? 
Not surprised, oil and gas should remain in the ground as Renewables industry is doing fine. In fact the take up is real unlike the fracking financial bubble and failing shale oil industry.