Petroleum Geo-Services (PGS), has seen its quarterly loss widen as revenues declined some 19 per cent during the first quarter of 2016.

The Oslo-listed seismic player, posted net loss of $57 million or 24 cents per share for the first quarter of 2016, compared with $19.5 million loss or 9 cents per share in the corresponding period in 2015.

In the first quarter of 2016, the company generated revenues of $203 million, as already mentioned, down about 19 per cent, when compared to revenues of $251 million a year earlier.

“The marine seismic market continues to be challenging, with the further weakening of the oil price around the start of the year having a negative impact on multi-client sales and contract awards in Q1,” said Jon Erik Reinhardsen, president and CEO of PGS.

To remind, during Q4 2015, PGS cold-stacked four Ramform vessels.

“Excellent operational vessel performance has offset some of the impact of weak market fundamentals. We cold-stacked four 3D vessels last year and with a smaller and more productive fleet we are now delivering significantly improved utilization,” added Reinhardsen.

PGS said it anticipates market uncertainty and low earnings visibility to continue through 2016.

The company’s order book totaled $204 million at March 31, 2016, compared to $240 million at December 31, 2015 and $394 million same time last year.

Subsea World News Staff