WorldStage Newsonline– Seplat Petroleum Development Company (Seplat) has released its first quarter (Q1) 2018 which showed a profit after tax (PAT) of US$21 million from a loss after tax of –US$19m in Q1 2017.
The results to a large extent reflected positives from undisrupted exports via the TransForcados System (TFS).
This is now the third consecutive quarter that the firm is posting profits.
Seplat’s sales came in at US$181m, up 282%, while PBT of US$59m compares with a loss before tax of -US$18m in Q1 2017.
Sales growth was boosted by a recovery in oil sales which grew by over 534% to US$141m.
Working interest oil production grew by 434% to 27,306bpd while average realised oil prices were also up 31% to US$65.8/barrel.
Production uptime was around 82% while average reconciliation losses stood at 7.3% in Q1.
Gas sales which were up 58% also supported topline growth, to a lesser extent. Gas production grew 66% to 158MMscfd (a record high), benefitting from de-constrained oil production.
Other positives include a significant expansion of gross margin to 51.4% and a -17% decline in opex.
In a positive note, management has dropped a hint that Final Investment Decision (FID) on the ANOH gas and condensate development within OML 53 is expected to be made in the coming months. The ANOH project underpins the next phase of growth for the gas business. When completed, Seplat will add around 300MMscfd of gas processing capacity. Additionally, exports via the Amukpe-Escravos export route are likely to resume in Q3 2018, significantly de-risking production going forward. Management has also stated an intention to reinstate the firm’s drilling programme and pursue inorganic growth ambitions via possible acquisitions. Management has finally provided production and capex guidance for 2018. According to management statements, full year working interest production range is set at 48-55,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), comprising of 24000-29,000bpd liquids and 148-158MMscfd gas. Capex for 2018 is also set at US$100m for optimisation works on both OML 4. 38, 41 and OML 53.
