Burford Capital Regulatory News (BUR)

23 May 2007 07:01

Burren Energy PLC23 May 2007 23 May 2007 Burren Energy PLC ("Burren" or "the Company") AGM Statement The following statement will be made by Keith Henry, Chairman of Burren EnergyPLC, at today's Annual General Meeting of the Company: "Burren has had an encouraging start to 2007, following on from record profitsfor the sixth successive year in 2006. The Group's strategy of low-cost onshoredevelopment enabled it to achieve a 9% increase in production, an 11% increasein earnings per share and to declare a dividend 17% higher than in the previousyear; thus enabling Burren to increase the dividend paid as it has done everyyear since flotation. I am pleased to report that in 2006 Burren was one of thelowest cost producers within the UK listed independent sector, achieving a netprofit of US$19.9 per barrel of oil produced. The challenge for the Group in 2007 has been to maintain Burren's growth recordagainst a background of higher costs and increasing asset prices. The recentpurchase in Congo of an additional 5.5% of M'Boundi and 2% of Kouilou from ENI,following ENI's acquisition of Maurel et Prom's interests in these assets, isexpected to be completed shortly. This acquisition will increase both reservesand production, taking the Group's working interest reserves to 232 millionbarrels of oil. We believe that the new operator ENI is well placed to continueto exploit the untapped potential of these assets. Burren's production for the first four months of 2007, excluding the purchasefrom ENI, has averaged 35,500 barrels per day on a working interest basis (firstfour months 2006: 34,700 bopd) with a net average realised price of US$56.74.Burren has no oil hedges in place. The Group has recently renegotiated theofftake terms for its Turkmen crude with effect from 1 July 2007 and hassucceeded in lowering the discount to Brent crude from US$8.00 per barrel toUS$6.85. On the Loufika shallow discovery in Congo, four appraisal wells drilled betweenJanuary and April 2007 have produced mixed results. Whilst three of the fourwells encountered hydrocarbons, the reservoirs proved to be low permeabilityindicating channelled reservoir development. Further shallow drilling is plannedlater in the year following a technical review. Development drilling continues in Turkmenistan with a further 6 deep and 8shallow wells planned for 2007 and an additional 12 in M'Boundi. Water injectionis proceeding in Turkmenistan and M'Boundi with current injection rates of 5,700and 4,300 barrels of water per day respectively. In Turkmenistan the number ofwater injectors is expected to increase from 8 to 12 by the end of the yearwhile in M'Boundi the number will increase from 4 to 11. Four further deep exploration wells are planned in Congo including one well onLa Noumbi and in Egypt, subject to an acceptable drilling rig contract; we planto drill the East Kanayis Jurassic gas prospect in Q4. In India, the PY-1 gas-sales agreement has been formally executed and HindustanOil Exploration Company, of which Burren holds 27%, is now progressing thedevelopment of this field, subject, as always, to acceptable costs. I am also pleased to report that Burren's HSE performance, in terms of accidentstatistics, was excellent in 2006, with no work-related fatalities amongst staffor contractors and a considerable reduction in Lost Time Incidents compared to2005. In line with UK Government guidelines, we substantially increased our reportingof quantitative environmental data for 2006, which confirmed that the maincarbon emissions issue facing the company remains the level of gas flaring inCongo and, to a lesser extent, Turkmenistan. We are addressing this issue byactively supporting ENI, as incoming operator, in plans to implement gasutilisation measures in Congo, and progressing gas export discussions with theTurkmen authorities. With a robust production base, an active exploration and development programmeand focused acquisition strategy, I am confident that Burren will maintain itsimpressive track record." Enquiries: Burren Energy Tel: 020 7484 1900Atul Gupta, Chief Executive OfficerShona Harvey, Communications Managerwww.burren.co.uk Pelham PR Tel: 020 7743 6676James HendersonAlisdair Haythornthwaite This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange