Tullow Oil, the London-listed independent that runs the largest oilfield operations in Ghana, has declared a profit after tax of $93Million for the First Half of 2021.
Most of the money was made from the proceeds of crude oil production from the West African country.
“The start of drilling in Ghana is one of the most tangible examples” of the significant achievements made during the period, the company explains.
Tullow’s gross (operated) production in Ghana averaged c.107,000Barrels of Oil Per Day (BOPD), with c.70,600BOPD(net: c.25,100BOPD) from the Jubilee field, “slightly ahead of expectations due to good facility uptime and well performance”. Gross production from the TEN fields averaged c.37,000BOPD(net: c.17,400BOPD).
Working interest production from Ghana averaged c 42,500BOEPD in 1H 2021, three times the WIP from Gabon (c.14,800BOEPD). Overall Group working interest production averaged 61,230 BOEPD, with Equatorial Guinea and Cote d’Ivoire contributing 2,100BOEPD and 1,800BOEPD respectively.
Operating costs during the period averaged $12.9/bbl, “a year-on-year increase primarily due to lower production and increased costs related to extended COVID-19 operating procedures”.
Tullow reports underlying operating cash flow of $218Million and free cash flow of $86Million during the period and congratulates itself on reduced administrative expenses of $23Million in 1H 2021, “down c.50% year-on-year”.
The company’s spent $101Million on capital investment and $37Million on decommissioning.
But its net debt at 30 June 2021 was around $2.3Billion, it says, with gearing of 2.6x net debt/EBITDAX; and “liquidity headroom and free cash of $0.7Billion.
Tullow says it completed a comprehensive debt refinancing with $1.8Billion of five-year Senior Secured Notes issued and a new $500Million revolving credit facility.
