NEPTUNE made pre-tax profits of around £1.1billion in the first six months of the year, almost identical to its takings in the same period last year.
Revenue for the latest period totalled £1.8billion, a marginal increase on the £1.6billion recorded in H1 2022, during a spell of “good operational and financial performance”.
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So far in 2023 Neptune has brought on new production in Norway, the UK and Germany, contributing to “higher year-on-year volume”.
It has also made progress on its “low-carbon strategy”, securing three carbon storage licences in the UK’s first-ever CCS leasing round.
As for Seagull, the group’s 50-million-barrel tie-back to BP’s Etap platform in the UK North Sea, Neptune confirmed start-up is slated for next month.
According to reports, current operations are focused on well completion and clean-up of the second production well before production starts in September.
Seagull is expected to add around 11,000 barrels of oil equivalent (boe) a day initially. Two additional wells will follow next year.
Production for Neptune in the UK as a whole averaged 14,700 boe per day in the second quarter, a slight improvement on the previous three months.
It was supported by two new wells on the southern North Sea Cygnus field.
Announcing the results – the first since since news broke that Eni plans to acquire the North Sea operator, Neptune chief executive Pete Jones said: “Neptune remains on track to deliver material year-on-year production growth, supported by project start-ups in Norway and the UK.
“In the first half we hit a major milestone in our new energy strategy, with the award of three CO2 appraisal and storage licences, meaning we now have licensed storage capacity for the equivalent emissions from our reserves portfolio.
“Commodity prices are likely to be increasingly volatile in the second half of the year, while the industry faces continued inflationary pressures in the supply chain.”