Asia’s largest producer of offshore crude oil and natural gas has pushed profits back into the black.
China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC) said half year profits before tax were boosted to 21.5billion Yuan (£2.5billion), up from last year’s loss of £1.3billion.
Revenues to the end of June totaled £10.8billion, a 38.2% increase on last June’s half year revenue of £7.8billion.
Crude production fell year on year, going from 202.4mmboe in 2016 to 198.2mmboe this year.
However natural gas production increased by 1.6% and both commodities saw higher realised market prices boosting overall oil and gas sales by 36.1% to £8.7billion.
A total of 14 new discoveries were made since the start of the year and four out of five planned projects for 2017 came on stream.
Only the 100% owned and operated Weizhou 12-2 oil field in the western south China Sea remains outstanding, with startup expected later this year.
Costs of a barrel of oil equivalent were reduced by 9% to £24.76, with the company reporting an “abundant” free cash flow.
In the North Sea, Nexen, which is owned by CNOOC, continues to lower operational costs around the Buzzard Phase Two development.
The final investment decision has been approved, with production scheduled to start in 2020.
Recommended for you
