05:00 PM EDT, 05/13/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Kolibri Global Energy ( KGEI ) on Monday said its first-quarter profit fell 58%, but the company provided a bullish production update.

The company reported a profit of US$3.3 million, or $0.09 per share, in the period, down from US$7.9 million. or US$0.22, in the first quarter of of 2023.

Revenue edged down to US$14.2 million from $14.3 million as higher production was offset by lower average prices

In a statement the company said the drop came on lower average prices, higher income tax expense and higher operating expenses due to the prior period gathering and processing fees, partially offset by higher production. In addition, the company had a US$0.9 million unrealized loss on commodity contracts in the quarter, compared to a US$1.4 million unrealized gain in the first quarter of 2023

Adjusted EBITDA was US$10.4 million in the quarter, down from US$11.4 million in the first quarter of 2023, a drop of 9%. It said the decrease was due to lower average prices and higher production and operating expenses due to the prior period gathering and processing fees, partially offset by an increase in production.

Production for the quarter averaged 3,305 barrels of oil equivalent per day, an increase of 3% from 3,194 boepd. It said the production increase is due to additional production from the wells drilled and completed in 2023

Production and operating expense per barrel averaged US$8.36 per barrel equivalent, up from US$6.04 per barrel equivalent. It said the increase was due to natural gas and NGL processing costs of US$0.6 million, or US$1.93 per BOE

Kolibri chief executive Wolf Regener in a statement said: "We are pleased with the first quarter performance of the company as we continue to generate strong cash flow ... We will be adding production from the Nickel Hill 35-1H and 35-2H wells (62.9% working interest), which are in the final stages of being completed. Flowback of these wells is expected to begin shortly after the fracture stimulations are complete, and we expect production to start near the end of May.

"The company reworked three wells in the first quarter of 2024 and another well in the second quarter. These are all wells that were impacted by offset fracture stimulations. Wells that were impacted by the offset fracture stimulations reduced production by about 275 BOEPD in the first quarter of 2024. Even with this reduction, production is above the year end forecast from our third-party reservoir engineering firm and the reworks have improved production further."

Kolibri shares closed down C$0.12 to C$4.26 on the Toronto Stock Exchange.