Hurricane Energy has said it remains in positive discussions to extend the stay of the FPSO on its flagship Lancaster field, but issued a warning over funds as a debt deadline looms.
The company remains in talks with Bluewater over an extension to the Aoka Mizu floating production vessel beyond its 2022 charter expiry date, it said in a statement.
Failure to do so would result in the company being wound down sooner than expected, Hurricane (LON: HUR) has previously said.
However, even with an extension, the company will be troubled with constrained cash issues as it seeks to repay its loans due in July next year.
An extension of the contract may result in Hurricane having to ring-fence “material additional funds as security”, it said in a statement.
Meanwhile, changes to decommissioning estimates may also require additional funds to placed into trust in order to satisfy the regulator, the Oil and Gas Authority.
It comes as Hurricane Energy needs to repay a $152million (£113m) convertible bond in July.
Hurricane said its net free cash stands at $99million (£73.5m).
However, it said that the figure does not take into account future liabilities that the company has committed to but not yet accrued so “not all of the net free cash would be available for repayment of the Convertible Bonds at their maturity in July 2022”.
Chief executive Antony Maris said last month that he was “optimistic” that Hurricane will be able to find a solution to “repay the bond in full at maturity” even if a shortfall remains.