Swedish oil company Lundin Petroleum increased its full-year oil production forecast up for the second time this year after strong second-quarter results, the company said on Aug. 2.
Lundin, a partner in Norway’s giant Johan Sverdrup Field, reported $333.5 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization, above the forecast of $320 million in a Reuters survey of analysts.
Production in the quarter came in at 89,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), beating the market forecast for 85,081 boe/d, helped by strong output from the Lundin-operated Edvard Grieg Field in the North Sea.
“This performance has led us to revise, for the second time this year, Lundin Petroleum’s full-year guidance to a new increased production level of between 80,000 and 85,000 boe/d...,” President and Chief Executive Alex Schneiter said.
The forecast at the start of the year was 70,000-80,000 boe/d, which was increased to between 75,000 boe/d and 85,000 boe/d in May after first-quarter results.
The company also lowered its cash operating forecast to $4.6 per barrel from $4.9 per barrel.
Lundin, which holds a 22.6% stake in Johan Sverdrup Field, said the field’s first phase of development was more than 50% complete, with its startup firmly on track for year-end 2019.
The second phase of production is expected to start in 2022, with the full field’s breakeven oil price now estimated at “well below $25 per barrel,” the company added.
Lundin also said it was “definitely moving in the right direction” toward making its Alta discovery in the Norwegian sector of the Barents Sea a commercial project after its recent appraisal well showed oil flow of over 6,000 bbl/d.
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