JKX H1 Output Rises, Drills New Well

Eastern Europe-focused explorer JKX reported July 30 a 1.5% increase in first-half production, at 8,728 barrels of oil equivalent/day, despite natural declines. This comprised 47.3mn ft³/d of gas, up from 46.9mn ft³/d) and 837 boe/d of oil and condensate, up from 780 boe/d.

Revenue was up at $42.4mn, compared with $36.8m in the same period last year; profit from operations before exceptional items was $7.4mn, up from a loss of $2.3mn; and the profit for the period was $1.9mn, compared with a loss of $7.7mn last year.

"The fact that JKX overall production increased, beating the natural decline of its mature fields, is a first result of the revised strategy of focusing on enhancement activities in core assets," it said.

However the accidental death of a worker from a fall cast a shadow over the figures and has led to an overhaul of its approach to operational safety. The incident was thoroughly investigated by JKX and the Ukrainian authorities and appropriate measures have been taken to prevent a recurrence of this type of incident, it said.

JKX has abandoned its Slovakian licence and is making progress towards the sale of Hungarian assets, meaning it is now focused purely on Ukraine and Russia, it said.

The Poltava Petroleum Company (PPC) has also started the drilling of well E308, JKX' first new well for four years. It has also been using two contractors' rigs for workovers and another for drilling, and for the first time in its history JKX has been using four rigs simultaneously. JKX earlier this month had said a court hearing was scheduled July 25 to consider one of PPC's rental fee claims; it has since been adjourned to August 15 2018; the claim relates to additional tax liability and associated penalties of some hryvnia 64mn ($2.4m).