Evergreen boosts production, revenues grow by 60 percent

Allen Baker, PNA contributing writer

Evergreen Resources Inc. wrote off its remaining properties in the United Kingdom and in Ireland to the tune of $11.2 million in the fourth quarter to cut its earnings to $1.0 million. Denver-based Evergreen had already taken a big write-down in the third quarter on properties in those areas.

The company made $5.3 million in the final quarter of 2001.

Evergreen’s production in the fourth quarter rose 20 percent to 113.8 million cubic feet daily, up marginally from 110.8 cubic feet in the third quarter. And the average gas price kicked up 33 percent, compared to the 2001 quarter, to $3.68 per thousand cubic feet.

That combination pushed revenues to $38.7 million for the quarter, up 58 percent compared with the same quarter of 2001 and also up substantially from the $29.7 million in the third quarter. For the year, however, revenues dipped 7 percent to $112.1 million, compared with all of 2001.

For the full year, Evergreen showed a loss of $8.3 million, compared with profits of $38.5 million in 2001. Without the big charges for the overseas properties, the company would have had a profit of $24.9 million, still a big decline from 2001.

In Colorado’s Raton Basin, the core area for the coalbed methane producer, 161 well were drilled during the year. The company plans to drill 160 more this year.