(Adds CEO quotes on Sverdrup production capacity, details)
By Nerijus Adomaitis
OSLO, April 27 (Reuters) - Norway's second-largest
listed oil company Aker BP said on Thursday it was
maintaining its outlook, and its quarterly dividend at $0.55 per
share, despite reporting an on-year fall in quarterly operating
profit.
The company, partly owned by BP , posted $1.96 billion
in earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) for the first
quarter, down from $1.71 billion in the same period a year
earlier.
Aker BP has a 31.6% stake in Western Europe's largest
oilfield, Johan Sverdrup, which produces medium-heavy crude
similar to Russian Urals, which Western buyers have been seeking
to replace since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine last
year.
The field's operator, Equinor , has been trying to
increase production capacity further after ramping it up to
720,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) in December.
"The tests' results were positive. We are going to ramp up
Sverdrup's capacity to 755,000 boed within a couple of months,"
Aker BP CEO Karl Johnny Hersvik told reporters.
Aker BP has maintained its full-year 2023 production
guidance at 430,000-460,000 boed, after reporting a record
quarterly output of 453,000 boed for the first quarter.
However, a sharp drop in realised crude oil and European gas
prices from a year earlier led to a lower profit.
Aker BP plans to increase production to over 500,000 boed in
2028, mainly thanks to implementation of new projects.
The company plans to invest about $18.5 billion in nine new
projects approved in December, which are estimated to hold about
700 million barrels of oil equivalent net for Aker BP.
Most of the projects are expected to start production in
2027, including Aker BP's flagship Yggdrasil development,
formerly known as NOAKA.
The company maintained its capital spending guidance range
for 2023 at $3 billion to $3.5 billion, up from $1.6 billion in
2022.
(Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Gwladys Fouche and
Christopher Cushing)
Messaging: nerijus.adomaitis.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))
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