Petro Matad, the AIM quoted Mongolian oil company, has announced its audited final results for the year ended 31 December 2022. All monetary values are expressed in United States dollars unless otherwise stated.
2022 Operational Highlights
- The Company continued to push the Mongolian government and authorities to register Block XX Exploitation Area as special purpose land.
- Negotiations with DQE Drilling entered their final stages for a multi-well development drilling contract with the Company securing cost reductions that can make a real difference to project cash flows and asset value.
- Block V project readiness continued with a cost-effective drilling solution found for Velociraptor.
- MRPAM announced an Exploration Licensing round covering 14 blocks in the prospective fairways of the southern half of the country.
- Petro Matad continued to explore opportunities in the Mongolian renewables sector following Board approval to do so.
Current situation
- On Block XX, the Company continues to push government on certification of the Exploitation Area as special purpose land and finally conclude the process. The Ministry of Construction and Urban Development has completed its internal work and has submitted the documentation to all other government ministries for comment prior to submission to Cabinet.
- The Velociraptor-1 exploration well in the Taats Basin of Block V located in central Mongolia spudded on 13 June, targeting an inversion anticline prospect estimated to have 200 million barrels (MMbo) of Mean Prospective Recoverable Resource potential. Encouraging results in the Velociraptor prospect would significantly de-risk two adjacent prospects on the Raptor Trend which together have Mean Prospective Recoverable Resource potential of an additional 375 MMbo.
- The Company raised US$6.6 million through a capital raise that will allow the Company to test the low-cost, high impact Velociraptor exploration prospect, evaluate new areas offered for licencing by the Mongolian government in the 2022/23 tender round and explore renewable energy projects.
- The Company formed a joint venture (JV) with a very active and successful Mongolian renewable energy project developer called SunSteppe Energy ("SunSteppe"). This JV will give the Company an opportunity to compete in Mongolia's growing renewables sector.
2022 Financial Highlights
- As of 31 December 2022, the Group's cash position was $5.1 million (Financial Assets) (31 December 2021: $8.2 million)
- The Group's net loss after tax for the twelve months ended 31 December 2022 was $2.95 million (31 December 2021: loss $2.1 million)
Mike Buck, CEO of Petro Matad, said:
'2022 saw an easing of Covid-19 related delays that had impacted service providers and cross-border activity. We were pleased that we were able to progress our preparations for Heron development, our negotiations with DQE Drilling and to continue our investigations on the Block V Exploration PSC.
This year we hit the ground running and set to work on a capital raise to allow Petro Matad to move ahead with testing the low-cost, high impact Velociraptor exploration prospect and evaluate new areas offered for licencing by the Mongolian government. We have also ventured into the renewable energy sector in Mongolia through the SunSteppe Renewable Energy joint venture which we hope will generate near term opportunities for us and our partner.
We continue to push forward with our 2023 work programme which of course includes urging the government to certify Petro Matad's Block XX Exploitation Area as special purpose land. Meanwhile we are delighted to have spudded Velociraptor-1 which we have wanted to drill for some time. Encouraging results here would significantly de-risk two adjacent prospects on the Raptor Trend which together have a resource potential of an additional 375 MMbo.
I would like to thank our loyal shareholders for their continued support and hope that the recent spudding of the Velociraptor well demonstrates our firm commitment to our work programme. I very much look forward to updating you in the coming months with our progress on multiple workstreams that are now in play.'
Source: Petro Matad
