Oz Oil Search's 2018 Profit Up 13%
Australian oil and gas explorer Oil Search February 19 reported a net profit of (US) $341mn for the year 2018, up 13% year-on-year thanks to higher oil and gas price.
CEO Peter Botten said the strong performance came on the back of stronger global oil and gas prices, with the average realised oil and condensate price up 27% and LNG and gas prices 31% higher.
He said this more than offset a 17% decline in production and sales volumes caused by the temporary shut-in of production following the February earthquake in Papua New Guinea and resulted in a 6% increase in total revenue, to $1.53bn.
He said the PNG government and the PRL 15 joint venture are on track for finalising the Papua LNG gas agreement before the end of March 2019. A gas agreement for the P’nyang PRL 3 is expected to be finalised shortly after, which will allow the venture to make progress on the proposed three-train LNG expansion, he said.
Upstream pre-front-end engineering and design (Feed) work is largely complete, with preliminary market engagement underway, he added. Downstream pre-Feed technical work is on schedule for completion toward the end of the first quarter of 2019.
Papua LNG is PNG’s second LNG project. It is a joint venture which includes affiliates of French Total (operator), US major ExxonMobil, and Oil Search.
The PNG LNG project, which is in operation, is operated by ExxonMobil, and Santos, National Petroleum Company of PNG, JX Nippon Oil and Gas Exploration Company, Mineral Resources Development and Oil Search also have stakes in the project.