Southern Energy Corp on Tuesday reported a drop in earnings for the second quarter of 2022, as a one-off gain in the same period in 2021 more than offset a sharp rise in petroleum and natural gas sales.

For the three months ended June 30, the Mississippi-focused oil & gas firm posted net earnings of $2.8 million, down 9.6% from $3.1 million the same period a year before, mainly due to a gain of $4.5 million recognised in the second quarter of 2021, related to debt retirement.

This was in spite of petroleum and gas sales more than doubling to $10.3 million from $3.7 million, partly benefitting from a 14% increase in average production to 2,363 barrels of oil equivalent per day, following the initiation of three Gwinwille wells.

Looking ahead, following the three-well appraisal program at Gwinwille, Southern Energy will seek to start a long-term drilling program on the Gwinwille field, starting from the fourth quarter of 2022.

At least one Lower Selma Chalk horizontal well and one City Bank horizontal well will be drilled within the upcoming program, with the objective of proving the deliverability of these high remaining gas-in-place reservoirs.

‘We are pleased with the success of our recent equity financing, which allows us to accelerate the organic growth strategy portion of our goal to reach 25,000 boe/d. The success of these first three wells at Gwinville have already increased our corporate production by over 100%. We are truly excited by our ability to begin a long-term development drilling program to unlock shareholder value due to the significant reserves, production and cashflow growth in Gwinville and our other assets,’ said Chief Executive Officer Ian Atkinson.

Shares in Southern Energy were up 4.9% at 63.22 pence on Tuesday in London.

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