Kistos upbeat on strong recent performance

Gas producer Kistos reported proforma net production for the five months through May of 12,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in an update on Thursday, unhedged as of 1 April.

The AIM-traded firm said its cash balances as at 31 May totalled €128.6m (£109.97m), after the acquisition of a nominal €27.7m of Kistos NL2 bonds in February.

Net cash on 31 May totalled €6.3m.

Kistos said the acquisition of a 20% interest in the Greater Laggan Area (GLA), west of Shetland, from TotalEnergies was progressing towards completion.

The transaction carried an effective economic date of 1 January.

Elsewhere, the firm said development studies were ongoing for the Q11-B gas discovery and the Orion oil discovery, while the Q10-Gamma exploration prospect and infill drilling opportunities at the producing Q10-A gas field were also being evaluated.

In line with its strategy, Kistos said it was continuing to evaluate “several potential growth opportunities” that met its investment criteria.

“Kistos has started the year strongly, delivering a solid operational performance and benefiting from high gas prices,” said chairman Andrew Austin.

“With almost €130m of cash at our disposal, we have the financial strength, capital discipline and track record to grow the business and deliver shareholder value.”

“We continue to benefit from high gas prices in the Netherlands, and we are assessing opportunities in the UK that would enable us to take full advantage of the investment allowances implicit in the recently introduced UK Energy Profits Levy.”

At 1010 BST, shares in Kistos were up 2.22% at 415p.

Reporting by Josh White at Sharecast.com.