12 June 2024
Star
Energy Group plc (AIM: Star) ("Star Energy" or "the
Company")
2024 Annual General Meeting
(AGM) Trading Update
Star Energy today provides the
following trading update in advance of the Company's AGM, which is
being held at 10.30 am today.
Ross Glover, Chief Executive Officer
said:
"I am delighted to report that we are maintaining strong momentum in
production and it remains in line with guidance at c. 2,000
boepd. We will continue to optimise oil production from our
existing well stock through investment in incremental opportunities
which deliver quick payback and to seek further reductions in site
operating costs. Initial discussions with potential farm down
partners, which should enable quicker execution of our shovel ready
oil and gas projects, have been encouraging and a formal process
will commence in early Q3 2024.
Our intention is to exit our shale
gas licence positions in order to save the costs of licence fees
and to allow greater focus on our producing
assets.
I will be working to right-size the
business and to ensure we have the optimal corporate structure that
is both appropriate for a business of our size, but does not
compromise our ability to grow. We have strengthened our
balance sheet through the recent refinancing exercise.
This gives us the opportunity to reinvest some of our
operating cashflows into our oil and gas business to drive its
profitability and sustainability, in a range of commodity price
environments. As our geothermal projects mature we will deploy our
capital appropriately.
I believe that geothermal can be a key part of
the solution to decarbonise heat. It is not grid-dependent,
requires minimal surface infrastructure and once running it is a
consistent renewable source that can be used for both heating and
cooling.
The skills needed to develop the geothermal
industry already sit within the onshore oil and gas industry in the
UK - this could be a real "just transition" for oil and gas workers
to a green technology that is proximal in terms of skill
set.
We are in a period of political hiatus from a
policy point of view, but clean energy and clean jobs are a key
priority for both main parties. Labour have said that GB
Energy will be an investment vehicle for nascent renewable
technologies and geothermal fits perfectly within that
definition.
In Croatia, we have commenced a review of the
technical data from all three secured licences, to rank the optimal
sequencing of their commercial development.
While the transition over time into geothermal
remains our goal, it is critical that our focus in the short term
is maximising cash flow from our producing assets whilst commodity
prices remain high and ensuring we are in the best shape for the
future."
For further
information please contact:
Star Energy Group plc
Tel: +44 (0)20 7993
9899
Ann-marie Wilkinson, Chief of
Staff
Investec Bank plc (NOMAD and Joint Corporate
Broker) Tel: +44
(0)20 7597 5970
Virginia Bull/Charles
Craven
Canaccord Genuity (Joint Corporate
Broker)
Tel: +44 (0)20 7523 8000
Henry Fitzgerald O'Connor/Adam
James/James Asensio
Vigo Consulting
Tel: +44 (0)20 7390 0230
Patrick d'Ancona/Finlay
Thomson/Kendall Hill