SIBIR Energy, the UK-listed oil operator which is 100% focused on Russia, said yesterday that in the first half of 2008 it had already achieved 84% of the record financial performance of the whole of 2007.
Chief executive Henry Cameron said that despite the material fall in the oil price in recent weeks the company’s margins in refining and retailing remained strong and Sibir was confident that the full year would show a material increase in performance on last year.
He said: “In the second half of the year the significance of our determination to secure refining capacity will become increasingly apparent as our downstream activities continue to contribute materially to our performance.”
Mr Cameron also reported that Sibir’s production, principally from its 50/50 Salym joint venture with Shell, increased 50% to 11.7million barrels of oil in the six months to June compared to a year earlier.
He added that the average daily production rate grew 44% to 67,887 barrels of oil per day (bpd) at the end of June compared with the equivalent period in 2007.
Sibir said that with a turnover of more than £1.35billion, production in excess of 74,000bpd and profitable participation in the full value chain from wellhead to petrol pump it was now one of the UK’s top independent oil and gas companies.
It added that events in Russia, the world’s financial crisis and the potential it saw in exploration blocks had combined to protract negotiations and delay its plan to move from the Alternative Investment Market to London’s main list, a move now slated for June next year.
Sibir reported pre-tax profits of £155.57million yesterday for the six months to June 30, up from £56.14million a year earlier.
Revenue was £1.03billion, compared with £367.9million the year before.