Medco 2007 net profit drops by 83 percent

IDX-listed energy firm PT Medco Energi Internasional booked a net profit of US$6.54 million in 2007, a 83 percent drop from $38.1 million in 2006.

Medco Energi?s CEO Hilmi Panigoro said in Jakarta Friday that corrections in the reserves of its oil and gas block in the Gulf of Mexico, United States had caused its net profit to go down.

According to Hilmi, the company suffered $77 million in losses from the sale of its Gulf of Mexico asset after cutting its reserve estimate by 30 percent. The assets were acquired with Medco bought Australia's Novus Petroleum Ltd. in 2004.

The company?s income for 2007 increased by 23.9 percent to $981.9 million compared to $792.4 million in the previous year thanked to the soaring global oil price, Hilmi said.

Medco also reported a 7-10 percent decrease in oil and gas production for 2007 compared to the previous year.

The company?s oil production for 2007 stood at only 50,400 barrels per day (bpd) compared to 56,400 bpd in 2006. Meanwhile, its gas production for 2007 reached 117.5 million cubic feet per day (MMCFD) compared to 127.1 MMCFD.

The company obtained an average price of $72.5 a barrel for its crude in 2007 compared with $64 a barrel in 2006. (Bernard)