Harvest Natural Resources Announces Operational Update
HOUSTON, March 18, 2008 /PRNewswire-FirstCall via COMTEX News Network/ --
Harvest Natural Resources, Inc. (NYSE: HNR) today announced an update of the
operational activities of its Venezuelan affiliate, Petrodelta, S.A.
(Petrodelta) and the status of its pending transactions involving its
exploration Production Sharing Contracts (PSC) in Indonesia and Gabon.
Production and Reserves
Petrodelta delivered 1.2 million barrels of oil, or 13,100 barrels of oil per
day, and 3.3 billion cubic feet (Bcf) of natural gas to PDVSA Petroleo, S.A.
(PPSA) during the fourth quarter 2007. The average price received for oil
deliveries was $74.91, which was approximately 83 percent of the average price
for West Texas Intermediate and approximates world market prices for the
quality of oil produced by Petrodelta. The natural gas price is contractually
fixed at $1.54 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf).
During the twenty-one months beginning April 1, 2006, the economic effective
date for Petrodelta, and ended December 31, 2007, Petrodelta produced and sold
10.6 million barrels of oil and 25 Bcf of natural gas to PPSA. The average oil
price was $54.85 per barrel, or 78 percent of the average price for West Texas
Intermediate during that period.
Harvest engaged Ryder Scott Company, L.P. (Ryder Scott), an independent
engineering firm, to prepare an estimate of proved, probable and possible
reserves and an estimate of the future net cash flows associated with those
reserves as of December 31, 2007. Ryder Scott used an oil price of $75.86 per
barrel, which was approximately 83 percent of the average December 2007 West
Texas Intermediate price, to estimate the value of Harvest's 32 percent
interest in Petrodelta. Natural gas prices were $1.54 per Mcf as fixed in the
hydrocarbon sales contract. Based on Ryder Scott's evaluation, Harvest's share
of Petrodelta's reserves, net of royalty, and after-tax cash flows discounted
at 10 percent are listed below.
After - tax cash
Oil Natural Gas Total flows discounted
(MMBbls) (Bcf) (MMBoe) at 10 percent ($MM)
Proved 37.8 34.5 43.6 $523
Probable 26.6 25.8 30.9 $267
Possible 68.0 28.8 72.8 $693
Harvest President and Chief Executive Officer, James A. Edmiston, said,
"Based on the Ryder Scott report, our 32 percent share of Petrodelta's
proved and probable reserves, net of royalty, were 74.5 million barrels of oil
equivalent with cumulative pre-tax and after-tax cash flows, discounted at 10
percent, of $1.7 billion and $790 million respectively. The six fields operated
by Petrodelta have almost six billion barrels of oil in place providing
Petrodelta with the scale to significantly increase production, cash flow and
reserves over the next several years. The three South Monagas Unit (SMU) fields
we began to develop and operate in 1992 have 1.1 billion barrels of oil in
place. Estimated ultimate oil recovery from the SMU fields, including
cumulative production plus the remaining proved reserves, is 27 percent of the
oil in place. Cumulative production plus Ryder Scott's estimate of
proved, probable and possible reserves imply an estimated average 13 percent
ultimate oil recovery of the 4.9 billion barrels of oil in place for the newly
awarded fields providing Petrodelta with the opportunity to further increase
the value of Petrodelta's asset base."
Petrodelta Drilling Update
Petrodelta has one drilling rig under contract and the rig is expected to spud
its first well in the Uracoa field in the coming weeks. In addition, the
bidding and selection process for a second drilling rig is underway and the rig
is expected to be under contract and spud its first well later this year. The
two rigs will restart the Uracoa field drilling program that was suspended in
January 2005. During the last six months of 2004, Harvest increased Uracoa's
oil production by over 10,000 barrels of oil per day using two drilling rigs to
drill 17 wells, but there are no assurances Petrodelta will achieve similar
results under the current drilling program.
Edmiston said, "The Petrodelta shareholders jointly prepared a business
plan to maximize the long-term value of its assets and cash flow. One of
the objectives of this plan is to build production with an early focus on the
rapid development of the reserve base. While the start of the drilling program
has been delayed by transitional issues, the delay should have little effect
given the long-term nature of the development."
Budong-Budong, Indonesia Production Sharing Contract
Harvest has agreed to acquire a 47 percent interest in the 1.4 million acre
Budong-Budong exploration production sharing contract (Budong PSC) in
Indonesia. Under the terms of the acquisition agreement, Harvest will fund 100
percent of the first $17.2 million of seismic and drilling costs to earn its 47
percent interest. The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of
2008. The Budong PSC, located onshore West Sulawesi, will provide Harvest with
exposure to significant resource potential in a basin with a demonstrated
active petroleum system. Exploration in the West Sulawesi Foldbelt (WSFB) is
immature due to previously difficult jungle terrain, which is now more readily
accessible. Recent seismic surveys over the offshore portion of the WSFB have
greatly improved the understanding of the geology and enhanced the
prospectivity of the offshore WSFB and, by analogy, the sparsely
explored onshore area.
The partners are acquiring 2-D seismic data on a portion of the Budong PSC and
expect to complete the acquisition, processing and interpretation of the
seismic data later this year. Upon completion of the seismic, the Budong PSC
partners expect to drill one well in the Karama sub-basin and one well in the
Lariang sub-basin.
Edmiston said, "Budong provides us with exposure to significant potential
resources in a proven petroleum system for a cost of approximately $0.45 per
diluted share. We have identified leads in both the Karama and Lariang
sub-basins with prospective resources in the range of 50 to 100 million barrels
each should they mature into drillable prospects."
Dussafu Marin, Gabon Production Sharing Contract
Harvest will enter Gabon through the acquisition of a 50 percent operated
interest in the Dussafu Marin exploration production sharing contract (Dussafu
PSC). The acquisition is expected to close in the first half of 2008. Located
offshore Gabon, the Dussafu PSC contains 680,000 acres with water depths
ranging to 1,000 feet. The Dussafu PSC has two small oil discoveries and a
natural gas discovery.
The Dussafu PSC participants and the Gabon Oil Ministry recently agreed to
enter into the three-year second exploration phase of the PSC with an effective
date of May 28, 2007. The second exploration phase work commitment includes the
acquisition and processing of 500 kilometers of 2-D seismic, geology and
geophysical interpretation, engineering studies and the drilling of a
conditional well. Leads in the near shore, underexplored syn-rift play, which
is commercial in immediately adjacent fields, have been identified and are expected
to be the focus of the planned 2008 and 2009 work programs.
Edmiston continued, "With an exploration strategy and work program focused
on exploiting the potential within the underexplored syn-rift play in
conjunction with further evaluation of the Gamba play, the Dussafu PSC
participants anticipate drilling prospects can be generated to test these play
concepts in late 2009. Based on the results of the seismic program, we hope to
develop drillable prospects for 2009 and beyond. The acquisition and seismic
study costs are approximately $0.17 per diluted share."
Conference Call
Harvest will hold a conference call today at 10:00 a.m. Central Time (11:00
Eastern Time) to discuss fourth quarter and 2007 financial results and provide
an operations update. To access the call, dial 785-424-1056, conference ID:
Harvest, five to ten minutes prior to the start time. A recording of the
conference call will also be available for replay through March 27, 2008 at
402-220-2656. To listen to the live webcast of the call, please visit our
website at http://www.harvestnr.com.
About Harvest
Natural Resources
Harvest Natural Resources, Inc. headquartered in Houston, Texas, is an
independent energy company with principal operations in Venezuela, exploration
assets in Indonesia and West Africa and a business development office in the
United Kingdom. For more information visit the Company's website at
http://www.harvestnr.com.
"Cautionary
note to investors - The United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC)
permits oil and gas companies, in their filings with the SEC, to disclose only
proved reserves that a company has demonstrated by actual production or
conclusive formation tests to be economically and legally producible under
existing economic and operating conditions. We use certain terms in this press
release such as prospective resources, probable reserves, possible reserves,
non-proved reserves or other descriptions of volumes of reserves, that SEC
guidelines strictly prohibit us from including in filings with the SEC. These
estimates are by their nature more speculative than estimates of proved
reserves and accordingly, are subject to substantially greater risk of being
actually realized by the Company. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure
in our 2007 Annual Report on Form
10-K and our other public filings with the SEC, available from us on our
website at http://www.harvestnr.com or by submitting a request to us at Harvest
Natural Resources, Inc., 1177 Enclave Parkway, Suite 300, Houston, Texas,
77077, Attention: Investor Relations. You can also obtain these filings from
the SEC by calling 1-800-SEC-0330 or from the SEC's website at
http://www.sec.gov."
"This press release may contain projections and other forward-looking
statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and
Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. They include estimates and
timing of expected oil and gas production, oil and gas reserve projections of
future oil pricing, future expenses, planned capital expenditures, anticipated
cash flow and our business strategy. All statements other than statements of
historical facts may constitute forward-looking statements. Although Harvest
believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are
reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to have
been correct. Actual results may differ materially from Harvest's expectations
as a result of factors discussed in Harvest's 2007 Annual Report on Form 10-K
and other public filings."
SOURCE Harvest Natural Resources, Inc.
http://www.harvestnr.com
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