Nigeria’s independent oil and gas company Seplat Petroleum has achieved a strong quarterly financial performance, with Q1 2018 revenue reaching US$181mn and gross profit US$93mn (51 per cent gross profit margin)
Commenting on the results, Austin Avuru, CEO of Seplat, said, “We have made a good start to 2018. Our core production base remains strong and predictable, the gas business has once again set a new record for quarterly revenue contribution and the steps we took to refinance the balance sheet have significantly strengthened our liquidity position and will allow investments to be scaled up.”
Seplat’s production uptime in Q1 stood at 82 per cent with average reconciliation losses of 7.3 per cent.
“All current production assets have access to two export routes. In addition, the Amukpe to Escravos pipeline is expected to be commissioned and operational in Q3 2018 and provide a third liquids export route for assets in OMLs 4, 38 & 41,” said the company.
The net working interest gas production 158mn scf per day translated into gas revenues of US$40mn, with which the company is progressing towards FID for the large-scale ANOH gas and condensate development at OML 53 in 2018.
Seplat has also revealed full-year guidance for 2018. Full year average working interest production guidance set at 48,000 boepd to 55,000 boepd comprising 24,000 to 29,000 bopd liquids and 148 to 158mn scf per day gas.
Following a review of Seplat’s operational, liquidity and financial position post refinancing the board has decided to reinstate the dividend for shareholders and a pay a Q1 2018 interim of US$0.05 per share.
“Looking ahead, we will return to drilling in the second half of the year as we re-focus our efforts on the numerous high-margin and short-cycle cash return opportunities we have in our portfolio. With our capital structure reset and robust free cash flow generation underpinning the business we also have the headroom to capitalise on inorganic growth opportunities as and when they may arise, in line with our price disciplined approach,” demonstrated Austin Avuru.
Seplat focuses on supplying the gas-to-power market to increase domestic gas consumption in the African nation, with a view towards contributing to the country being energy self-sufficient by 2021.
