The shares of Tullow Oil (LSE: TLW) climbed 27p to 1,060p during early trade this morning after the oil group predicted its forthcoming interim results would show revenues of $1.3bn.
The FTSE 100 member, which has production operations in Ghana and Gabon and drilling operations in Kenya and Ethiopia, said production during the first six months of 2013 had averaged 88,600 barrels of oil a day.
Tullow added that its production guidance for the full year had been “narrowed” to between 86,000 and 90,000 barrels a day. Guidance issued in May had projected production of between 86,000 and 92,000 barrels.
The blue chip claimed the change to the forecast had been prompted by “minor additional planned and unplanned downtime and minor timing delays to infill programmes” at some of the group’s West African sites.
Today’s statement also revealed exploration write-offs and capital expenditure during the half-year would come to $170m and $0.9bn respectively. Tullow added capital expenditure for 2013 as a whole would be $2bn.
Aidan Heavey, Tullow’s chief executive, said:
“We […] continue to have an industry-leading exploration and appraisal programme with results from key frontier wells in Kenya, Ethiopia, French Guiana, Norway and Mauritania all expected in the second half of the year.”
“With high-quality production continuing to underpin our financial position, we are well placed for the remainder of this year and into 2014.“
Prior to today, the average estimate from City experts put Tullow’s current-year earnings at 53p per share and prospective P/E multiple at 20.
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> Maynard does not own any share mentioned in this article.
