Back to the black? Embattled Premier Oil gears up for debt refinancing and production update on Thursday
UK-based Premier Oil is set to reveal a boost to its oil flows and expected to announce progress on its long-awaited financial restructuring in an update this Thursday.
The embattled oil firm will provide further details about a bailout it has been working to agree with lenders for almost a year.
In a trading update in November, the firm said its refinancing package will be implemented by the end of the first quarter. It also said it should hit its production targets for the year.
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On Thursday, Premier Oil is expected to announce its 2017 production targets, which could be higher than 2016 figures. The company declined to comment.
Premier was one of the oil companies to suffer most from the tumbling oil price of recent years, so reaching the final stages of the bailout will be a welcome boon to the beleaguered North Sea oil group's shareholders.
The company's fortunes took a turn for the better last year: in April, the group bulked up its UK holdings when it bought E.On's North Sea assets, and, in July, it said the Brexit-induced drop in sterling's value was a positive for the firm.
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Before the dramatic fall in the oil price in the last quarter of 2014, Premier's shares were trading at more than 300p. Stock fell to less than 20p per share last January (at the same time as Brent crude fell to multi-year lows of less than $30 a barrel).
Premier's shares made some recovery last year, though the price has failed to reach 2014 highs, and closed on 6 January at 83.75p.