Money in pocket to go buying
FLUSH with cash before a planned merger with Arc Energy, Australian Worldwide Exploration (AWE) has its sights on more acquisitions, and is not ruling out moving into coal seam gas.
FLUSH with cash before a planned merger with Arc Energy, Australian Worldwide Exploration (AWE) has its sights on more acquisitions, and is not ruling out moving into coal seam gas.In the last quarter the company made $254 million in revenue from 2.48 million barrels of oil, boosting annual revenue more than fivefold to $821 million, it said yesterday.As Arc shareholders decide on AWE's friendly takeover bid this month, the suitor has $339 million in cash to fund more expansion.AWE's corporate development manager, Garry Marsden, said development, exploration and aquisition opportunities were all possible. "We are an exploration and production company - we're looking at oil and gas opportunities. And coal seam methane does fall within that range of opportunities," he said.An energy analyst at Fat Prophets, Gavin Wendt, said the increased revenue, though expected, placed the company in a strong position to capitalise on high oil prices. "About $340 million in cash with no debt is exactly where you want to be in this sort of environment," Mr Wendt said.Oil and gas production was down slightly from 2603 to 2480 million barrels, but this was offset by record oil prices. The jewel in the company's crown is its 42.5 per cent stake in the Tui field off New Zealand, which produced 1.62 million barrels of oil but is in natural decline.South Australian explorer Beach Petroleum's quarterly revenue grew 13 per cent to a record $167 million, despite a 4 per cent fall in oil production. Beach, which closed out much of its hedge book in the quarter, sells 90 per cent of its oil on the spot market.With market capitalistion of about $1.6 billion and $1.2 billion respectively, AWE's and Beach's revenues of $254 million and $167 million compare well with larger rivals. The $10 billion explorer Santos's quarterly revenue was $749 million. Woodside, worth about $35 billion, made $1.475 billion.Beach shares rose 2.2 per cent to $1.16 yesterday. AWE shares fell 2 per cent to $3.47.
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