Ghana: Tullow Oil Raises 2026 Free Cash Flow Forecast On Stronger Production

Africa-focused independent oil and gas producer Tullow Oil Plc has raised its 2026 free cash flow guidance after stronger-than-expected production from its offshore Ghana fields and higher realised oil prices boosted first-half performance.

The London-listed company said group working interest production averaged about 43,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) in the first six months of 2026, including around 7,500 boepd of gas.

Gross production from the Jubilee field averaged about 70,800 barrels of oil per day, while output from the TEN field averaged about 14,800 barrels per day, both exceeding the company’s expectations.

Tullow said three new production wells brought onstream under its 2025-26 drilling campaign performed in line with or above expectations, supported by reservoir insights from 4D seismic surveys. Floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) uptime at the Jubilee and TEN fields averaged more than 99% during the period.

Chief Executive Ian Perks said the company’s operational performance, together with higher-than-expected oil prices, had strengthened its financial outlook.

“We have delivered a strong operational performance in the first half of 2026, driven by our new wells performing ahead of expectations, production optimisation activities delivering tangible benefits and consistently high uptime across our assets,” Perks said.

First-half sales revenue rose to about $496 million, including approximately $47 million in hedge costs. Average pre-hedge realised prices for six crude cargoes were about $95 per barrel, while post-hedge realised prices averaged about $86 per barrel.

The company generated pre-financing cash flow of about $135 million and free cash flow of about $4 million after interest payments and one-off refinancing costs.

Gross debt fell by about $100 million to $1.6 billion at the end of June, while net debt stood at about $1.4 billion.

Reflecting the stronger performance, Tullow raised its full-year free cash flow guidance to between $170 million and $250 million at an oil price range of $70-$100 per barrel, up from its previous forecast of $70 million to $175 million.

The company said it now expects 2026 production to be at the upper end of its guidance range of 34,000-42,000 boepd and plans to lift 14 crude cargoes during the year, two more than previously forecast.