Niko posts loss, cuts production view as India output slumps

REUTERS - Canadian oil and gas producer Niko Resources Ltd reported a fourth-quarter loss and forecast a 23 percent decline in production for the next fiscal year as output from its D6 block off India's east coast fell.

Niko, which explores for oil and gas in southeast Asia and the Caribbean, has been grappling with lower natural gas reserves at the block and other negative news from its Indian operations.

The company expects to produce 175,000 thousand cubic feet equivalent per day (Mcfe/d) in fiscal 2013, down from 227,539 Mcfe/d it produced this fiscal.

Niko said production at the D6 block is likely to continue declining unless volumes are added from the development of contingent resources.

Niko co-owns the KG D6 block with India's Reliance Industries Inc and BP Plc . It has a 10 percent stake in the block.

There were renewed concerns about gas output at the D6 block after Niko last week slashed the reserve estimate for the block. It estimated that total proved plus probable reserves at the block had decreased to 1.93 trillion cubic feet (tcf) as of March 31.

The block had earlier been estimated to hold more than 9 tcf of gas.

Niko late on Wednesday posted quarterly net loss of $183.3 million, or $3.55 per share, compared with net profit of $6.2 million, or 12 cents per share, a year earlier.

Oil and natural gas revenue fell 24 percent to $71.4 million.

Niko shares, which have lost more than two-thirds of their value in the past three months, closed at C$11.85 on Wednesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Bhaswati Mukhopadhyay in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)