Oil Search managing director Peter Botten released the results yesterday via a teleconference from Sydney.
He said 2018 as one of largest years of investment that Oil Search will make in the country since the construction of PNG LNG 1.
“We believe here there is a very strong status of operational and financial results for the company. That was obviously excellence in production coming from our oilfields, especially coming from our oilfields and especially from our PNG LNG facility,” he said.
“Our net profit for the year was just over US$302 million, an uptake of 236 per cent higher than the previous year.
“That was built on record production of just over 30 million barrels of oil equivalent to the year, it also obviously impacted by higher oil and gas prices.”
The company operated from a cash flow of US$844 million (K2.6 billion), up 52 per cent, which was the result of oil prices that were 24 per cent higher than in 2016 and gas price at 21 per cent higher as well to the corresponding year.
“All of that gave us a very strong operating margin of 73 per cent and almost nearly best in par in the Australian context,” Mr Botten said.
He said the company managed to play down its debt by some US$500 million (K1.5 billion) and its liquidity at the end of the year was around US$2 billion (K6.1 billion).
“Again a very strong set of numbers in terms of financial and operational performance and one and that gives us a tremendous platform to move towards a number of key growth projects and support key growth projects that we are focusing on in 2018 and beyond.”
Mr Botten said Oil Search’s key objectives in 2018 include focus on personal and process safety and target improvements in all safety metrics, LNG Expansion, PNG LNG project support toExxonMobil in progressing the tie-in of Angore A1 and A2 wells into Project infrastructure and undertaking modifications to the Hides Gas Conditioning Plant.
Reductions in cost and improving efficiencies across the organization, and undertake well work activities on operated oil fields to help mitigate natural production decline.
Also the drilling of Muruk 2 appraisal well in the North-West Highlands and Kimu 2 and Barikewa 3 in the Gulf and Forelands, Acquire seismic in the North-West Highlands and onshore Papuan Gulf Basin, and to assume Alaska North Slope operatorship in the US. Post Courier/PMW
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