WTI (Oct) $62.68 -89c, Brent (Nov) $66.68-76c, Diff -$4.00 +13c
USNG (Oct) $2.89 -4c, UKNG (Oct) 79.99p -1.75p, TTF (Oct) €32.325 -€0.375

Oil price

Oil continues to stay in a narrow band with few external influences changing much, Last week WTI fell by 1 cent and Brent by 31 cents. 

PetroTal Corp

PetroTal provides the following operational update.

Key Highlights

• Bretana output temporarily impacted by technical issues, with four wells currently shut-in due to leaks in production tubing.
• Group production has averaged 18,805 bopd to date in Q3 2025, including 16,750 bopd in the first two weeks of September.
• PetroTal is moving a service rig to Bretana by the end of October, with shut-in wells expected to return to production from mid-November.
• Impact of curtailments on 2025 annual average production is currently expected to be below 1,000 bopd. As a result, there is no change to production guidance at this time.

Production Update

As of September 15, 2025, PetroTal’s group production averaged 18,805 barrels of oil per day (bopd) in Q3 2025, including approximately 18,325 bopd from the Bretana field and 479 bopd from the Los Angeles field. While recent Bretana production remains substantially higher than last September’s average of 10,333 bopd, technical issues have contributed to a decline in field production since mid-August. PetroTal’s total production during the first two weeks of September averaged approximately 16,750 bopd.

As disclosed previously, PetroTal experienced pump failures in four producing wells at the Bretana field from December 2024 to February 2025. The pumps were successfully replaced by mid-July 2025, briefly pushing the Company’s production over 21,000 bopd. However, during the course of its investigation into the pump failures, PetroTal discovered leaks in the production tubing in six wells. Leaks in production tubing reduce the efficiency of artificial lift systems, and PetroTal has had to shut-in four producing wells until the tubing can be replaced.

PetroTal is moving to replace the production tubing as quickly as possible. The Company plans to complete its ongoing workover campaign at Block 131 by the end of September, at which point the service rig will be mobilized by river barge back to Bretana. Pulling operations to replace production tubing are expected to begin by the end of October, with oil production expected to return throughout the month of November.

At present, the impact of the well failures on PetroTal’s 2025 annual average production, following the completion of the well intervention program as described above, is estimated to amount to less than 1,000 bopd. As of September 15, PetroTal has produced approximately 5.47 million barrels of oil year-to-date in 2025, which equates to an average of 21,135 bopd. As a result, there is currently no change to PetroTal’s 2025 average daily production guidance of 20,000-21,000 bopd. PetroTal plans to provide additional updates on the well intervention campaign with its next regular quarterly operations update in early October, and with its Q3 2025 financial results in mid-November.

Manuel Pablo Zuniga-Pflucker, PetroTal’s President and Chief Executive Officer, commented:
“While we are disappointed to have experienced some production reliability issues at Bretana in 2025, I would like to assure our shareholders that we are working to address these matters as quickly as possible. Our assets are located in a remote environment, and unfortunately it takes time to mobilize equipment to the field. As ever, we constantly evaluate our operational planning and procedures and will continue to assess possible long-term solutions for well services that would allow us to respond to production interruptions in a more expedient manner.”

Stand back, there’s very little to see here, PetroTal is experiencing some fairly minor production issues at the Bretana field where six wells have seen leaks in the production tubing although only four wells are currently shut-in. 

Put into perspective, as at the 15th September group production averaged 18,805 b/d, mainly from Bretana, a great deal higher than last September although there is less barge trouble this year the quarter has been good, post shut-in that is nearer 17/- b/d. 

With the expectation that full production will occur in late November we are told that full year guidance stays at 20-21/- b/d as year to date production is c.21.2/- b/d and the bottom end of the guidance should hold up. 

It is also worth noting that these recent production declines are not a result of natural field declines – they are just a technical issue – which is being addressed as quickly as possible. PTAL remains committed to assessing possible long-term solutions for well services that would allow the company to respond to production interruptions in a more expedient manner.

I remain convinced that PetroTal will deliver returns to shareholders both in capital and income terms and with a yield of some 13% and a target price of 100p its place in the bucket list my confidence in the excellent management team is still well justified.