Oil Search, the company with a 29 percent interest share in the ExxonMobil-operated US$19 billion PNG LNG project, has seen its net profit after tax plummet 89 percent to US$25.6 million in the first half of 2016.
The company’s board approved the payment of an interim dividend of one US cent per share, compared to the 2015 interim dividend of six US cents per share.
Oil Search managing director, Peter Botten , said, that despite cost reduction program, the profitability has been impacted by the “continued slump in global oil and gas prices.”
The average realized oil and condensate price fell 27 percent while the average realized LNG and gas price was 40 percent lower than in the first half of 2015, Botten said, commenting on the company’s results for the first half of 2016.
As informed earlier, the first half production was 4 percent higher compared to the first half of 2015, reaching 14.89 mmboe. The full year production guidance has been upgraded 28 – 30 mmboe, while capital costs are expected to be in the range of US$270 – 315 million, US$45 – 85 million lower than prior guidance, the company said.
PNG LNG project sells 53 cargoes in H1
The Papua New Guinea LNG project sold 53 cargoes of liquefied natural gas during the first half of 2016.
Since the sales began, a total of 205 cargoes have been dispatched from the facility, Oil Search said in its half-year report.
Botten added, “The PNG LNG Project continued to perform well during the first half, producing LNG at an annualized rate of approximately 7.7 MTPA, 12 percent above the nameplate capacity of 6.9 MTPA.”
According to him, 45 cargoes were sold under long-term contracts and eight were sold on the spot market. PNG LNG sold 25 during the second quarter.