Oil and gas exploration company Petroceltic said it has made "significant" progress on an operational and financing level as it strengthened its asset portfolio and decreased losses over the past year, writes Ciara O'Brien.

The company said the Ain Tsila appraisal programme, the farm-out to Enel and entry into the Kurdistan region of Iraq had helped bolster its position. Publishing its interim results for the first six months of 2011, the group said it had a current cash balance of $84 million (€58 million) and no debt. It cut losses to $4.1 million from $4.9 million a year earlier.