INA

NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWS WIRE SERVICES OR DISSEMINATION IN
UNITED STATES


Iona Energy Inc. ("Iona" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:INA) announces its
financial results for the three months ended March 31, 2013. 


HIGHLIGHTS FOR THE PERIOD ENDED MARCH 31, 2013 

Financial



--  Closed a CAD$23 million equity financing of common shares in February
    2013.

--  Closed Senior Secured Borrowing Base Facility for up to USD$250 million
    of which USD$150 million is currently available with the Bank of America
    Merrill Lynch, Lloyds TSB Bank plc and BNP Paribas.

--  Total assets as at March 31, 2013 of CAD$513.0 million (March 31, 2012 -
    CAD$76.0 million). 

--  Net loss, excluding one off expenditure/gains in relation to acquisition
    costs, gains on acquisition, losses on financial instruments and
    taxation credit, of CAD$4.2 million for the quarter ended March 31, 2013
    (March 31, 2012 - CAD$1.0 million).

--  Cashflow generated from financing activities of CAD$163.0 million for
    the quarter ended March 31, 2013 (March 31, 2012 - CAD$Nil).

--  Cash increased CAD$14.4 million during the quarter ended March 31, 2013
    (March 31, 2012 - reduced CAD$28.1 million).



Operational 



--  On February 21, 2013 Iona sold a 25% working interest in its UK North
    Sea Orlando and Kells fields to an industry participant for total gross
    proceeds of CAD$37.7 million on close and pro-rata share of future
    staged payment obligations.

--  The net production from the Trent & Tyne ("T&T") fields to Iona during
    the three months ended March 31, 2013 was 2.3 MMscf/d. Production was
    lower than anticipated due to a scheduled six-week shutdown on the
    Bacton processing facility during February and March. The average
    realized gas price for the quarter was strong at $10.39/mcf. As of May
    13, 2013, both T&T were producing at a combined production rate of 43.3
    MMcf/d, net 8.7 MMcf/d to Iona. Production at the 44/18-T6 ("T6") well
    on the Tyne Gas field is currently producing at a stabilized rate of 28
    MMcf/d.



Acquisitions & Disposals



--  Completed the previously announced acquisition of 100% of the issued and
    outstanding shares of Carrizo UK Huntington Limited. 

--  Completed the sale of 25% interest of the Orlando and Kells discoveries
    on February 21, 2013 for total gross proceeds of USD$37.7 million on
    close and a pro-rata share of future staged payment obligations.



Corporate 



--  The Company completed a USD$60 million structured energy derivative
    transaction with Britannic Trading Ltd., a subsidiary of BP
    International Limited in February 2013 for notional quantities of
    1,360,072 and 6,746,231 barrels of Brent blend crude oil over the period
    April 1, 2013 to March 31, 2014 and April 1, 2014 to March 31, 2018 at
    strike prices of USD$100 and USD$95 respectively.

--  The Company also entered into a Marketing and Off-take Agreement with BP
    Oil International Limited in February 2013. 

--  On January 10, 2013 and March 5, 2013, 175,000 and 7,420,000 of stock
    options were granted at a price of $0.58 and $0.63 per share
    respectively.

--  On April 5, 2013, Iona announced the appointment of Don Copeland as non-
    executive Chairman, the resignation of Brad Gunn as Chief Financial
    Officer and as a Director, and the appointment of Graham Heath as
    Interim Chief Financial Officer.



Post Quarter Events



--  The Huntington Field commenced production on April 12, 2013. The field
    has been developed through four production and two water-injection wells
    and is tied back to Teekay's Floating Production Storage and Offloading
    ("FPSO") vessel, the Voyager Spirit, with production capacity of 30,000
    barrels of oil per day and 27 million standard cubit feet of gas per
    day. On May 14th, 2013 the Company produced a new record production
    level of approximately 2,960 boepd, which is expected to increase in the
    coming weeks to approximately 4,600 boepd and reach a new production
    threshold of 7,500 boepd by the end of June, based on the anticipated
    increase of the Company's working interest in Trent & Tyne from 20% to
    37.5% and the anticipated increase in Huntington production to maximum
    capacity (4,500 bbls/d of oil and 4.0 MMcf/d of natural gas, both net to
    Iona).

--  On April 16, 2013 the Company announced that the Department of Energy
    and Climate Change ("DECC") had advised the Orlando joint venture
    partners that it has approved the Orlando Field Development Plan
    submitted by the partners. 



Notes: 

Further details on the above are provided in the Consolidated Financial
Statements and Management's Discussion and Analysis for the quarter ended March
31, 2013, which have been filed with securities regulatory authorities in
Canada. These documents are available on the System for Electronic Document
Analysis and Retrieval (SEDAR) at www.sedar.com and on the Company's website:
www.ionaenergy.com.


Iona is an oil and natural gas acquisition, appraisal, and development
corporation active through its 100% wholly owned United Kingdom subsidiary, Iona
Energy Company (UK) Ltd. in the United Kingdom's Continental Shelf ("UKCS").


Forward-looking statements

Some of the statements in this announcement are forward-looking, including
statements regarding Iona's plans for the development of its properties,
estimated production levels, anticipated effects of the UK small field
allowance, and estimates of the net present value of future net revenue of
proved and probable reserves from Iona's properties. Forward-looking statements
include statements regarding the intent, belief and current expectations of Iona
Energy Inc. or its officers with respect to various matters. When used in this
announcement, the words "expects," "believes," "anticipate," "plans," "may,"
"will," "should", "scheduled", "targeted", "estimated" and similar expressions,
and the negatives thereof, whether used in connection with estimated production
levels and future activity or otherwise, are intended to identify
forward-looking statements. Such statements are not promises or guarantees, and
are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcome to differ
materially from those suggested by any such statements, including without
limitation, the risk that Iona's development plans change as a result of new
information or events, the risk that production rates at Huntington does not
increase as anticipated, or the risk that Iona does not increase its interest in
Trent & Tyne. These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this
announcement. Iona Energy Inc. expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking
to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statement
contained herein to reflect any change in its expectations with regard thereto
or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any
forward-looking statement is based except as required by applicable securities
laws.


Note: "Boe" means barrel of oil equivalent on the basis of 6 mcf of natural gas
to 1 bbl of oil. Boes may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A
boe conversion ratio of 6 mcf: 1 bbl is based on an energy equivalency
conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent
a value equivalency at the wellhead. 


It should not be assumed that the present worth of estimated future net revenue
represents the fair market value of the reserves disclosed in this press
release. The reserve and related revenue estimates set forth in this press
release are estimates only and the actual reserves and realized revenue may be
greater or less than those calculated. The estimates of reserves and future net
revenue for individual properties may not reflect the same confidence level as
estimates of reserves and future net revenue for all properties, due to the
effects of aggregation. As used in this press release, "possible reserves" are
those additional reserves that are less certain to be recovered than probable
reserves. There is a 10% probability that the quantities actually recovered will
equal or exceed the sum of proved plus probable plus possible reserves.


Additionally, this press release uses certain abbreviations as follows:



Oil and Natural Gas Liquids     Natural Gas                                 
-----------------------------   --------------------------------------------
bbls    barrels                 mcf     thousand cubic feet                 
Mbbls   thousand barrels        mcf/d   thousand cubic feet per day         
MMbbls  million barrels         scf     standard cubic foot                 
bbls/d  barrels per day         MMscf   millions of standard cubic feet     
bopd    barrels of oil per      MMscf/d millions of standard cubic feet per 
         day                             day                                
NGLs    natural gas liquids     Bscf    billion standard cubic feet         



FOR FURTHER INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT: 
Iona Energy Inc.
Neill A. Carson
Chief Executive Officer
+011 (44) 7919 057989


Iona Energy Inc.
Graham Heath
Interim Chief Financial Officer
(403) 605-6726
info@ionaenergy.com
www.ionaenergy.com

Iona Energy Inc. (TSXV:INA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jun 2024 to Jul 2024

Iona Energy Inc. (TSXV:INA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Jul 2023 to Jul 2024