Bosses at North Sea explorers Trapoil have taken a 20% pay cut in a bid to curb costs after posting a £10million loss for the year.
The firm, which is one of the partners in the Athena field, took a £9.4million hit from the sale of its interests in the Knockinnon and Lybster fields – among others – to Caithness.
Increased cash flow and revenue from the Athena field helped the company to almost £7m in the bank, with management taking a pay cut and staff numbers reduced as the company looks to remain in the black.
“In what has continued to be a challenging industry and market environment, we were able to generate positive cash flows in 2013, primarily through our equity interest in Athena,” said chief executive Mark Groves Gidney.
“Our goal remains to carefully manage and maximise the Group’s cash reserves in order to establish a drilling programme that will afford shareholders exposure to an asset base that is capable of delivering increased value.
“With our existing cash reserves and the in-house technical and operational ability to manage risks and secure carried interest positions, we will aim to deliver this strategy and hope to enhance the group’s position with value driven new ventures.”
The company, which is committed to drilling on the Niobe prospect due to commitments to the Department of Energy and Climate Change, admitted 2013 had been a ‘disappointing’ year in regards to drilling operations, with the financial crisis which hit partners Noreco last autumn slowing down operations.
Despite warning it expected implementation of the Wood Review to take some time, Trapoil said it was starting to see evidence of some recovery in the North Sea after losing three assets in the last 18 months to a lack of investment.
“It is encouraging that we are now presenting several of our existing portfolio assets to a number of interested parties and we are optimistic about potentially sharing equity in return for carried interest positions, albeit such discussions are still at an early stage,” the company said.
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