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Tullow Oil profits collapse 92% after prices slip
10 Mar 2010Tullow Oil today said its net profit crashed by 92% to £19 million last year, blaming lower oil and gas prices and output.
Analysts had forecast net income to fall to between £1 million and £11 million.
As Tullow's assets are mainly undeveloped oil fields and exploration acreage, investors focus on new oil finds and reserves upgrades rather than day-to-day profitability.
The firm said it continued to hold talks with the Ugandan government about bringing in China's CNOOC and French oil major Total as partners in its Lake Albert oil fields. It also confirmed that its Jubilee field project in Ghana remained on budget and on track for start-up in the fourth quarter.
Tullow upgraded its reserves estimates for its Tweneboa discovery, saying P50 or most likley recoverable resources would be 400 million barrels, up from an earlier estimate of 250 million barrels.
