EnQuest H1 Earnings Up On Output Gains

London-based oil and gas producer EnQuest managed to boost revenues by 56.5% yr/yr in the first half on the back of production gains.

The company, which develops assets in the UK and Malaysia, posted $858.2mn in revenues in the six months ending June 30, up from $548.3mn a year earlier, it said in a report released on September 5. Ebitda soared to $525.9mn from $311.9mn, while post-tax profit edged up to $44.3mn from $43.3mn.

EnQuest attributed these improvements to a 27% yr/yr growth in production to 68,438 boe/day, achieved thanks to greater output efficiency at the North Sea Kraken oilfield. The company also benefitted from higher realised prices and a gain from its hedging position.

“The group has delivered a strong performance in the first half of 2019,”” CEO Amjad Bseisu said. “Production was towards the top end of our full year guidance range and we continue to control our operating expenditures, with unit opex of $20/boe in the period.”

Strong cash flow also helped EnQuest slash its debts by $136.6mn over the six months to $1.64bn on June 30. Coupled with higher earnings, this enabled it to achieve a net debt to Ebitda ratio of 1.8, versus 2.5 at the end of 2018.

Bseisu said the company was confident its full-year target for production of 63,000-70,000 boe/day would be reached.