TANZANIA: Orca Energy Group Provides Operating Results for 2020
- Average sales volumes for the year ended December 31, 2020 decreased 8.6% to 57.7 million standard cubic feet per day (MMcfd) compared to 63.1 MMcfd for the year ended December 31, 2019 and for Q4 2020 decreased 11.3% to 62.8 MMcfd compared to 70.8 MMcfd for Q4 2019. Reduced gas sales in 2020 were primarily attributed to the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on consumer investment/demand and abnormally high rainfall in early 2020 which reduced gas fired power demand due to increased hydro power generation.
- Revenue decreased 10.4% to $76.7 million compared to $85.6 million in the year ended December 31, 2019 and for Q4 2020 decreased 10.3% to $20.8 million compared to $23.2 million in Q4 2019.
- Cash and short-term investments totaled $103.8 million on December 31, 2020 compared to $138.7 million at December 31, 2019. The decrease is primarily due to the substantial issuer bid of CDN$50 million completed in Q1 2020.
- As at December 31, 2020 the current receivable from Tanzanian Electricity Supply Company (TANESCO) was $ nil (December 31, 2019: $ nil). The TANESCO long-term trade receivable as at December 31, 2020 was $27.6 million with a provision of $27.6 million compared to $47.5 million (provision of $47.5 million) as at December 31, 2019.
- Capital expenditures for the year ended December 31, 2020 were $27.0 million, which included an advance payment of $11.4 million for the procurement of long lead items of the compression project, compared to $5.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2019. The total value for the contract for the compression project signed in August 2020 is $38.0 million of which $24.7 million has been incurred to date. The expenditures in 2019 were primarily related to the refrigeration project for the Songas gas processing plant.
- Jay Lyons, Interim Chief Executive Officer, commented: “Considering the difficult operational context deriving from the global impact of the corona virus pandemic and its knock-on implications on the domestic operating environment, I am pleased with the performance of our Company during 2020. We continue to progress our strategy to focus on the Tanzanian gas business while providing return of capital to our shareholders through quarterly dividends and share buy backs. We maintain focus on the compression project for the Songas gas processing plant as evidenced by the level of capital incurred on this project in 2020. The project remains on budget and on track for completion in 2022 and we look forward to keeping the market updated on our wider progress over the coming months.”
