McMoRan reports loss; spent $4.3 million on start-up for LNG hub offshore Louisiana

The Associated Press

Petroleum developer McMoRan Exploration Co., while saying it was encouraged by its deep gas prospects in the Gulf of Mexico, posted a $20.5 million loss during the fourth quarter of 2003.

The New Orleans-based company reported that it spent $4.3 million on start-up costs for its proposed Main Pass Energy Hub in offshore Louisiana. It would be one of the first U.S. offshore liquefied natural gas terminals.

The loss translated into $1.22 per share on revenue of $4.8 million. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call had forecast a loss of 76 cents per share.

During the fourth quarter of 2002, McMoRan earned $5.8 million, or 27 cents per share, on revenue of $9 million.

For the past three years, the company has focused on deep-gas deposits, which are in shallow waters of the Gulf of Mexico, but require drilling thousands of feet into the seafloor. Interest in those deposits was revived with the rising price of natural gas over the past few years.

For 2003, McMoRan lost $32.7 million, or $1.97 per share, on revenue of $16.1 million, compared with earnings in 2002 of $17 million, or 91 cents per share, on revenue of $43.8 million, in 2002.