Oil Search on track to increase, deliver production

OIL Search Limited has recorded a nine per cent increase of 7.91 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) in its third quarter, taking its production to 22.72 mmboe.
According to the report for the period ended September 30 released yesterday, the company is on track to deliver this year’s production at the upper end of the 29.0 to 30.5 mmboe guidance range.
“This excellent result was driven by higher production from both the PNG LNG Project and our operated fields,” it stated.
“Record production was underpinned by an excellent performance from the PNG LNG project, which contributed 6.39 mmboe net to Oil Search, and produced at an annualised rate of approximately 8.6 MPTA, the highest quarterly rate achieved since the project came on stream since 2014.”
The report stated that the Oil Search-operated Papua New Guinea oil and gas fields also performed well, contributing 1.52 mmboe net to Oil Search, compared to 1.34 mmboe in the previous quarter, with high facilities uptime achieved over the quarter.
It stated that the company’s cash balance increased by US$145.4 million (K463 million) during the quarter to US$1.12 billion (K3.8 billion).
“Including US$850 million (K2.7 billion) of undrawn corporate credit facilities, Oil Search had total liquidity of US$1.97 billion (K6.2 billion) at the end of the quarter,” the report stated.
“Oil Search’s operated production increased 13 per cent during the quarter, reflecting a return to normal operations following the major maintenance that took place in the second quarter of 2017.
“Despite the Papua New Guinea scheduled maintenance activities in October, and subject to facilities uptime and plant performance, the company is on track to achieve 2017 production towards the upper end of our guidance range.”