6 de agosto 2004
Globe and Mail
August 6
Sherritt gets boost from metal prices
Canadian Press
TORONTO -- Sherritt International Corp. nearly doubled its quarterly profit to a record $61.9-million on strong metals prices, the mining company said yesterday.
Sherritt's profit for the quarter ended June 30 came to 42 cents a share. That compared with earnings of $33.8-million or 24 cents in the year-earlier quarter.
Revenue at Sherritt, which also has significant oil, gas, power generation and tourism assets, mostly in Cuba, was up 21 per cent to $267-million from $221-million.
"A fourfold increase in operating earnings from metals, combined with strong results in the other business units, led to the significant increase in second-quarter results," Sherritt said in a news release.
Pretax earnings at its metals business hit a record $62.5-million on higher realized nickel and cobalt prices. Coal generated $61.6-million in revenue, up slightly from $60.1-million the year before. Sherritt's power business generated $7.8-million in pretax profits, compared with last year's $7-million. And an 18-per-cent increase in realized oil prices pushed Sherritt's pre-tax earnings for its Cuban oil up to $44.6-million from $35.8-million.
Shares in Sherritt traded up 3 cents yesterday at $7.40 in Toronto.
Oil & Gas Journal
August 5
Sherritt to renew exploration, eyes gas sales in northern Cuba
By OGJ editors
HOUSTON, Aug. 5 -- Sherritt International Corp., Toronto, plans to resume exploratory drilling in northern Cuba in the third quarter and is considering an increase in its $90 million capital spending plan in light of the current oil price.
Capital spending was $46.2 million in the first half of 2004, and first half gross working interest oil production in Cuba fell 13% to 37,444 b/d (19,811 b/d net).
The production dip was due to natural declines in Canasi and Puerto Escondido fields and delays in drilling several development wells in the last half of 2003.
Exploratory drilling will start with the Santa Cruz prospect on Block 7. Sherritt said it has work commitments for several exploration wells on blocks 7, 9, and 10 in the next 12 months.
With three rigs running, the company will refocus development drilling on the Seboruco area, where recent drilling has resulted in higher than anticipated initial production rates (see map, OGJ, Oct. 9, 2000, p. 38).
It will undertake a 50% capacity expansion of the Yumuri oil treatment facility in late 2004 to process production expected from new wells at Seboruco and Yumuri.
Construction was completed in the 2004 second quarter on a pipeline to ship gas from the Canasi facility to the Cuban gathering system at Puerto Escondido.
"This pipeline project reaffirms the corporation's commitment to assist the Cuban government in developing the infrastructure necessary to utilize the large volumes of gas produced at Canasi in an efficient and environmentally responsible manner," Sherritt said.
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