NATCHEZ &8212; Callon Petroleum Company, based in Natchez, this week reported results of operations for both the quarterly period and the year ended Dec. 31, 2005.

Callon is engaged in the exploration, development acquisition and operation of oil and gas properties primarily in the Gulf Coast region, with properties and operations concentrated in the offshore waters of the Gulf of Mexico.

The company reported record net income for the year &8212; $26.8 million, or $1.28 per share, compared to 2004 net income of $21.5 million, or $1.22 per share. For the fourth quarter in 2005, net income totaled $4.3 million, or 20 cents a share, compared to net income of $9.1 million, or 45 cents a share for the same quarter in 2004.

Approximately 62 percent of the company&8217;s production for the fourth quarter and 24 percent for the year were deferred because of forced downtime at its major producing properties due to tropical storms and hurricanes.

Tropical storms followed by the devastation wrought by Hurricane Katrina and then Hurricane Rita caused substantial downtime in the third and fourth quarters.

The downtime primarily came as a result of damage to transmission lines and production facilities owned by third parties that process Callon&8217;s crude oil and natural gas.

Six major properties accounted for 86 percent of the company&8217;s 2005 production. They are Medusa, which experienced 102 downtime days; Habanero, 85 days; Mobile Block 864 Unit, 48 days; Mobile 953, 48 days; Mobile 955, 136 days; and High Island 119, 102 days.

For the fourth quarter, oil and gas sales totaled $24.9 million from average production of 27.6 million cubic feet of natural gas equivalent per day, compared to $25.1 million from average daily production of 51.6 million cubic feet for the same period in 2004.

The average price received per thousand cubic feet of natural gas in the fourth quarter of 2005 increased by 95 percent to $12.20, compared to $6.27 in the same period the year before. The average priced per barrel of oil in the fourth quarter of 2005 increased by 81 percent to $45.93, compared to $25.44 for the same period in 2004.

For 2005, discretionary cash flow totaled $93.5 million, compared to $71.2 million for the same period in 2004.