EMGS: Best First Quarter Results in Company’s History (Norway)

EMGS recorded revenues of USD 55.6 million in the first quarter of 2012, up from USD 21.5 million in the first quarter of 2011. Contract sales totalled USD 53.0 million, whilst multi-client sales came in at USD 2.6 million.

In the corresponding period last year, EMGS recorded multi-client sales of USD 0.5 million. The growth in revenues is related to an increase in the vessel fleet as well as improved productivity. The company recorded 12 vessel months in the first quarter of 2012 as opposed to 6 in the first quarter of 2011.

Charter hire, fuel and crew expenses totalled USD 21.0 million in the first quarter of 2012, up from USD 10.5 million in the corresponding quarter in 2011 owing to an increase in the vessel fleet and operational activity in 2012. Capitalisation of multi-client costs amounted to USD 4.2 million in the first quarter of 2012. No capitalisation of multi-client costs was recorded in the first quarter of 2011.

Employee expenses increased from USD 9.9 million in the first quarter of 2011 to USD 13.8 million in the first quarter 2012 owing to higher operational activity, as reflected in the higher revenues. Other operational costs increased marginally.

Events in the quarter

On 3 January, EMGS and Schlumberger signed a cooperative agreement through which the parties offer to the industry their respective expertise in the marine electromagnetic related fields of processing, advanced modelling and earth model building. The agreement was effective from said date.

On 8 February, EMGS announced that it had secured pre-funding to start a multi-client 3D EM campaign in the Barents Sea, ahead of Norway’s 22nd licensing round. The company reported that data acquisition would commence in March using the vessel Atlantic Guardian.

On 28 March, EMGS announced that the vessel BOA Thalassa had completed planned 3D EM data acquisition under its current multi-year contract. The company reported that the vessel would continue to acquire 3D EM data on a project-to-project basis until the scope of a contract extension has been defined.

On 2 May, EMGS was awarded a contract worth in excess of USD 4 million by a new customer to acquire and process 3D electromagnetic (EM) data offshore Papua New Guinea. The company reported that data acquisition will be performed using the vessel EM Leader in the second quarter of 2012.

“We’re off to a great start to the year with the best first-quarter financial results in the company’s history. Today’s results, along with continued strong operational performance and favourable market developments, puts is in a good position to move the company forward and deliver record-high financial performance in 2012,” says Roar Bekker, EMGS chief executive officer.

EMGS, the marine EM market leader, uses its proprietary electromagnetic (EM) technology to support oil and gas companies in their search for offshore hydrocarbons. EMGS supports each stage in the workflow, from survey design and data acquisition to processing and interpretation. The company’s services enable integration of EM data with seismic and other geophysical and geological information to give explorationists a clearer and more complete understanding of the subsurface. This improves exploration efficiency, and reduces risks and the finding costs per barrel.

[mappress]
Subsea World News Staff, May 16, 2012; Image: EMGS