Aminex plc, the oil production and development company, has entered into a revised $17 million (€15.98 million) secured loan to develop the Kirtayel oilfield in the Komi Republic, Russia.

Speaking at the a.g.m. of the company in Dublin yesterday, chief executive Mr Brian Hall said that the Kirtayel oilfield had the potential to increase the company's oil production fivefold in Russia.

"We have had an extremely difficult 1998 but the announcement of the loan agreement is a landmark for the company.

"In Russia our projects are back on course, and even though 1998 could be called a bleak year in which it was hard to navigate through the rocks, this is very a significant turning point."

In May, Aminex, which is listed on both London and Dublin stock markets, announced its losses before tax had increased from $1.6 million (€1.53 million) in 1997 to $9.6 million in 1998 and its sales had dropped by 32 per cent to $11.8 million.

The company was badly affected by the collapse of the rouble last August and dropping oil prices.

Its development of the Kirtayel oilfield through its 55 per cent subsidiary, AmKomi, was held up by a third party legal action which sought to have the granting of the production licence invalidated.

Mr Hall said the loan from the International Finance Corporation (IFC), which is part of the World Bank, was the first new dispersion loan to an oil company operating in Russia and that he was optimistic about the future. "We can now get into the territory of producing more oil than ever before, while because of the collapse of the rouble, operating costs are a fraction of what they were before and the price of oil has doubled."

Aminex operates in Komi through AmKomi, a Russian limited liability company in which it has a 55 per cent stake, while Komineft, a large Russian oil company, and the government of the Komi Republic hold a 10 per cent and 35 per cent stake respectively.

AmKomi, which currently produces approximately 1,300 barrels of oil a day, proposes to drill a total of 15 oil production wells and five injection wells at Kirtayel. Aminex has invested around $9 million in the project to date while additional investment costs are estimated to be in excess of $45 million. The meeting was told that the company never considered pulling out of the field.