Penn Virginia narrows quarterly operating loss

Penn Virginia Corp., the Radnor energy company focusing on the prolific Eagle Ford oil-shale formation in Texas, reported a $3 million first-quarter operating loss on Wednesday, a slight improvement over the $3.4 million loss a year ago.

The company also boosted its 2013 production and revenue guidance from projections it made in early April. Production is expected to be 6.7 million to 7.3 million barrels of oil equivalent, compared to 6.5 million to 7.2 million barrels; crude oil production is expected to increase by 60 percent to 78 percent over 2012 levels, compared to previous guidance of 57 percent to 76 percent growth. Product revenues are expected to be $414 million to $469 million, compared to previous guidance of $403 million to $447 million.