Touchstone losses widen despite rise in production

Touchstone Exploration reported a 53% rise in average production volumes in the first quarter on Friday, to 2,139 barrels of oil equivalent per day, compared to 1,396 equivalent barrels per day in the same period last year.

The AIM-traded firm said the figure, however, marked a 4% decrease from the fourth quarter of 2022.

It said the Coho-1 well experienced an average net volume of 5.1 million cubic feet per day of natural gas production, contributing $0.98m in net sales at an average realised price of $2.12 per million cubic feet.

Despite increased natural gas sales, a 22% decline in realised crude oil pricing and an 8% decrease in production led to total revenue of $8.48m, down from $10.5m in the first three months of 2022.

Touchstone generated an operating netback of $3.65m - a 23% decrease from last year's equivalent quarter, mainly due to a 19% decline in petroleum and natural gas sales.

The company reported a net loss of $0.28m for the first quarter, compared to a net loss of $0.24m in the same period a year earlier.

During the quarter, Touchstone invested $9.02m in capital projects, primarily directed towards the drilling of the Royston-1X sidetrack well and construction of the Cascadura natural gas and liquids facility.

The firm said it ended the quarter with a cash balance of $10.86m, a working capital deficit of $4.38m, and a net debt position of $23.88m.

Construction of the Cascadura A and C surface locations had progressed, the board reported, with first production at Cascadura expected on or around 30 June.

The second production test of the Royston-1X well was scheduled to start in late May.

At 1014 BST, shares in Touchstone Exploration were down 0.17% in London, at 59.9p.

Reporting by Josh White for Sharecast.com.