Oz Oil Search's 2018 Revenue Rises
Australian oil and gas explorer Oil Search January 22 reported a 6% year-on-year rise in its 2018 sales revenue owing to higher LNG and gas prices.
Total revenue for the year was US$1.54bn compared with US$1.45bn in 2017. Revenue during the three months that ended December 31 (4Q2018) was US$503.1mn, up from US$389mn in the same quarter of previous year, Oil Search said.
Oil Search’s 2018 production was 25.2 million barrels of oil equivalent, down 17% year-on-year. During 4Q production was 7.4mn boe compared with 7.5mn boe is the corresponding quarter of 2018.
“While the first half was impacted materially by the February 2018 PNG Highlands earthquake, production recovered strongly in the second half, with the PNG LNG Project producing at an annualised rate of 8.8mn mt/yr, its highest-ever half-year rate,” the company said.
Oil Search had cut its production guidance for 2018 following the Papua New Guinea earthquake to 23mn boe – 26mn boe. Prior to the earthquake, Oil Search had been expecting to produce 28.5mn boe-30.5mn boe in 2018. For 2019, Oil Search expects to produce 28mn boe - 31.5mn boe.
Oil Search said the Papua LNG joint venture participants and the PNG government are targeting to finalise both the Papua LNG and the P’nyang Gas agreements before the end of March 2019, which will enable an integrated front-end engineering and design (Feed) entry decision to be taken for the proposed three-train LNG expansion. Two trains will be supplied with gas from the Elk-Antelope fields, while one train is underpinned by gas from the existing PNG LNG fields and the P’nyang field. Papua LNG and PNG LNG joint venture parties reached broad alignment in early 2018 on the preferred downstream concept for the next phase of LNG development in PNG.
In November, the Papua LNG joint venture participants entered into a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with PNG government for the development of the Papua LNG project.
Papua LNG is PNG’s second LNG project. It is a joint venture which includes affiliates of Total (operator), 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 hold interest in the project.