Harbour Energy on track to meet full-year production guidance

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Harbour Energy PLC on Wednesday reported a dip production in the first quarter of 2023 but said it remained on track to meet full-year production guidance.

Harbour Energy is an oil and gas company with interests in Indonesia, Vietnam, Mexico and Norway. It is headquartered in London.

Shares in the firm were up 1.6% at 247.10p on Wednesday morning in London.

The company reported average production of 202,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first quarter of 2023, down from 215,000 boepd the year prior.

Consequently, Habour said it is on track to meet full-year average production guidance of between 185,000 boepd to 200,000 boepd in 2023.

The firm said its estimated operating costs in the quarter increased to $15 per barrel of oil equivalent from $14 per boe the year prior. It added that the full-year forecast for operating costs remains unchanged $16 per boe.

Habour said its estimated revenue for the quarter is $1.1 billion, with realised, post-hedging, oil and UK gas prices of $76 per barrel and 71 pence per therm. This compares to average Brent and National Balance Point prices of $81 per barrel and 133p per therm for the period, the firm added.

It reported total expenditure, including decommissioning spend, of $200 million.

Capital expenditure guidance for the full-year is reiterated at $1.1 billion. Harbour said this reflected increased activity post first quarter, including drilling in the UK, and exploration campaigns in Indonesia and Norway.

Chief Executive Linda Cook said: ‘Continuing to invest in our portfolio while actively managing our cost base has enabled us to further deleverage our balance sheet and return additional capital to shareholders.

‘At the same time, we’ve built good momentum in our international development opportunities in Mexico and Indonesia which have the potential to add materially to our reserves and future production, and in our [carbon capture and storage] projects, all of which will lead to future diversification of our business.’

Harbour said that the review of its UK organisation is on track to complete in the second half of 2023. It is expected to result in a reduction of around 350 onshore position and deliver annual savings of $50 million from 2024, following an estimated $15 million one-off charge in the company’s 2023 interim financial statements.

The company proposed a final dividend of 12 US cents per share, representing growth of 9% against the year prior.

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