Beach Energy reports 11% drop in revenue in April-June
Beach Energy, an Australian oil and gas producer, reported a 10.7% year/year decrease in sales revenue for the April-June quarter (Q4FY23) owing to lower product prices, the company announced on July 26.
The company's sales revenue for the quarter was A$450mn ($304mn), compared with A$504mn in the same quarter last year. Despite the decrease in year/year revenue, the company experienced a 27% increase in revenue quarter/quarter. This increase was driven by higher sales volumes and higher realised gas prices during the period.
The realised product price for the quarter was A$79.4/barrel of oil equivalent (boe), which was down from A$85.6/boe in the previous year. Additionally, Beach Energy's realised gas price during Q4 was A$9.5/gigajoule (GJ), higher than both A$8.7/GJ in the same quarter of the previous year and A$8.9/GJ in the prior quarter.
Beach provided an update on the Moomba carbon capture and storage (CCS) project, stating that it is 70% complete. The company is on track to perform the first injection of carbon dioxide for the project in 2024.
The Moomba CCS project aims to securely and permanently store up to 1.7mn tonnes/year of CO2 in depleted reservoirs that were previously used to hold oil and gas reserves for millions of years. The Moomba CCS project is operated by Santos, another Australian energy company.
On the Waitsia Stage 2 gas project, Beach said that the project is facing tight labour market conditions in Western Australia.
“Significantly, the Waitsia Stage 2 project is progressing, and while there have been some challenges resulting from the now resolved financial issues with construction contractor Clough, there continues to be skilled trades getting the plant ready for first gas," CEO Morné Engelbrecht said.
Beach on May 18 announced that the construction progress at the Waitsia gas plant has experienced delays due to the tight labour market in the region. The company had partnered with Italy's Webuild in February of this year to complete the Waitsia Stage 2 project, pending the finalisation of the Clough administration.
The Waitsia gas field is one of the largest onshore gas fields ever found in Australia. In 2020, Beach and Japan's Mitsui made a final investment decision to proceed with the project.