Ophir Energy’s chief executive said the upstream model of the past 10 years was “clearly broken” as the company reported a pre-tax operating loss of $376million.
The company said its net cash at the end of 2015 was $355million compared with $1.17billion in 2014.
Nick Cooper said Ophir’s strong financial position and asset base had provided “considerable optionality” despite the lower oil price.
He said: “Exploration costs are approaching 30 year lows and quality opportunities for future growth are plentiful.
“Provided we continue to focus capital at assets that can deliver strong returns in the ‘new normal’ of lower: “2015 saw Ophir respond swiftly to an exceptionally challenging operating environment.
“We radically reduced our cost base, and delivered synergies ahead of forecast on the Salamander acquisition.
“In the period we delivered material progress on the Fortuna FLNG Project: signing gas fiscal terms with the host Government, securing Golar as midstream provider, commencing FEED,
shortlisting binding offtake offers and signing a heads of agreement with Schlumberger to participate in the project.”
Meanwhile, a total of five new plays were added to its portfolio while another five have been, or are in the process of being exited.