|
Evergreen earnings decline, but production keeps rising
Allen Baker PNA Contributing Writer
Evergreen Resources Inc. reported profits of $2.4 million for the first quarter, down 84 percent as prices slumped for the company’s coal bed methane.
The Denver-based company made $5.3 million in the fourth quarter.
Evergreen kept boring holes at its Raton Basin field, adding 50 news wells in the first quarter alone. That raised the total number of producing wells to 713 from 518 at the end of the first quarter of 2001.
The company plans to add a total of 152 wells in the basin during 2002, and it also is completing five exploratory wells to depths of 4,000 to 6,000 feet to see if the gas sands under the coal seams hold commercial potential. Production up 27% Evergreen’s new wells pushed production up 27 percent from a year ago to an average of 98.1 million cubic feet daily. The company sold 94.5 million cubic feet each day in the fourth quarter.
But gas prices have come down dramatically, and higher production couldn’t make up the difference.
Evergreen’s gas sold for $2.29 per thousand cubic feet in the first quarter of this year, a drop of 58 percent from the price a year ago. It was also down from the average price in the fourth quarter of $2.77.
Revenues for the quarter slid 46 percent to $20.3 million. The company collected $24.1 million in the fourth quarter.
| 