Nigeria’s Akpo oilfield
Posted on November 6, 2009 – 4:50 pm | by oilandgaspress.com
Total, Europe’s third-biggest oil producer, increased output for the first time in more than a year after ramping up Nigeria’s Akpo oilfield and Tahiti in the Gulf. Statoil, the world’s largest offshore operator also benefited from the start of operations at Tyrihans in the Norwegian Sea, as did Total. But the French oil giant reported a third quarter net profit plunge of 54 percent on a year earlier to 1.87 billion euros (2.76 billion dollars) because of the slump in oil prices.
The result was slightly better than the 1.84 billion euro profit that had been expected by analysts.
Over the first nine months of 2009, Total profits came to 5.70 billion euros — 48 percent down from the profits made in the same time last year.
“Compared to the first nine months of 2008, the oil environment in the first nine months of 2009 was marked by a 48 percent decrease in the average price of Brent to 57.3 dollars a barrel,” Total said in its earnings statement.
Total also said that its oil refineries had reduced production by 10 percent in the third quarter in order to adjust to lower demand.
But the group said its production had still gone up 0.5 percent on a 12-month comparison to 2.243 million barrels per day.
The increase was due to higher output from oil fields in Nigeria and the Gulf of Mexico as well as new projects in Angola, Norway and Qatar.
“Total may be turning the corner, which bodes well for 2010,” said Neill Morton, a London-based analyst at MF Global UK Ltd. “Statoil looks to be on track to meet its full-year production guidance.”
Higher output went some way to offsetting a slump in quarterly earnings caused by lower energy prices and weaker refining margins. Both producers are set to capitalize from higher oil prices, which are up 13 percent this quarter, pushing crude futures to the strongest in a year.
Statoil’s 8 percent increase in equity production outpaced all the major European oil companies to have reported third-quarter earnings so far. Royal Dutch Shell Plc, the region’s no. 1, said output was flat while BP Plc reported a 6.9 percent increase.
“Statoil had the highest production growth among its peers in the third quarter,” said John Olaisen, an analyst at Carnegie ASA in Oslo, who has an “outperform” rating on the stock. “Production will be very good in the fourth quarter with new fields coming on stream.”
Production at Total is “back on track,” Chief Executive Officer Christophe de Margerie said, after output climbed 0.5 percent to 2.243 million barrels of oil equivalent a day from the year-earlier period. Output was 2.8 percent higher than the second quarter.
Tags: Akpo oilfield, Oil prices, Tahiti, Tyrihans
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