Tullow Oil Books US$1.3 Billion Loss In First Half Of 2020

Africa’s focused oil and gas company, Tullow Oil PLC, has recorded a net loss of U.S$1.3 billion in the first half 2020.

According to the company, the loss, after tax, was driven by exploration write-offs and impairments totaling US$1.4 billion.

In the same period, Tullow recorded US$31 million in revenue while gross profit stood at US$164 million.

Contained in the company’s statement on Wednesday, the Ireland-based oil and gas firm said its net debt, as at June 30, stood at US$3 billion.

Tullow registered a negative free cash flow in half year due to weighting of cash taxes, cash capex, differentials, redundancy costs and working capital.

The Group’s working interest production for the first half of 2020 averaged 77,700 bopd in line with expectations.

Despite all these, the company registered a strong operational performance in Ghana, with both FPSOs delivering in excess of 95 percent uptime.

The impact of COVID-19 has been managed safely across the business with no adverse impact on Ghana’s production.

This has been achieved in close cooperation with the Government of Ghana.

Production across both fields in Ghana has been strong in the first half of 2020, with the Jubilee Field averaging 84,700 bopd gross (net: 30,000 bopd) and the TEN field averaging 50,900 bopd gross (net: 24,000 bopd).

“The Maersk Venturer drillship has now been released. Tenders are ongoing to contract a rig to recommence activity in Ghana in 2021,” Tullow said.

Meanwhile, Tullow announced that its shareholders approved the sale of Ugandan assets for US$500 million in cash on completion and US$75 million in cash at FID.

Rahul Dhir, Chief Executive Officer, Tullow Oil Plc, commented that: “Despite the very tough conditions in the first half of this year, we have successfully delivered reliable production and major, sustainable reductions to our cost base. We are also close to completing the important sale of our interests in Uganda. The quality of Tullow’s assets remains robust. Since my arrival as CEO, we have been developing new plans for our business, with the support of our Joint Venture Partners and expert advisors. These plans will deliver enhanced value from our assets to benefit all our stakeholders including our host countries and investors. We will host a Capital Markets Day towards the end of 2020 at which we will update the market on these plans to deliver on Tullow’s true potential.”

Source:www.energynewsafrica.com