Baron Oil PLC on Tuesday reported a widened annual loss last year despite reduced expenses and said it was entering ‘a decisive phase of operations’ as it continues searching for new venture opportunities.

The London-based oil and gas exploration and appraisal company reported a pretax loss of £1.4 million for 2022, compared with £1.1 million for the previous year. It reported no revenue for either 2022 or 2021.

Baron had cash reserves of £5.8 million at December 31, up from £1.7 million at the same time a year prior.

Meanwhile the company’s administration expenses decreased 9.8% to £1.2 million from £1.3 million. Exploration and expenditure expenses slightly decreased by 2.3% to £213,000 from £218,000.

Operational highlights during 2022 included intensive technical work on its Chuditch PSC and Dunrobin projects, with seismic reprocessing and geochemical studies for Dunrobin delivered on time and within budget during the second half year.

Baron also completed a detailed seismic attribute analysis earlier this year to investigate candidate direct hydrocarbon indicators.

Going forward, the company said it has a ‘well-funded’ balance sheet to cover its current activities thanks to two oversubscribed funding events in 2022. It continues to proceed with caution on its asset impairment policy and says it will keep taking a prudent approach to potential new capital expenditures.

‘2022 was a year of considerable progress for Baron,’ Non-Executive Chair John Wakefield commented. ‘Both [Chuditch and Dunrobin] assets continue to attract attention via our active farmout campaigns and presentations at relevant industry events. In particular, there are a number of ongoing discussions with third parties regarding participation in the Chuditch appraisal well and future activities.’

Shares in Baron Oil were 4.2% higher at 0.099 pence in London on Tuesday.

Copyright 2023 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.