Statoil sinks to red in 2Q

Norwegian oil giant Statoil on Wednesday posted a loss for the second quarter of 2016 due to low oil prices, compared to a profit in the same period last year, and decided to cut its capex guidance by $1 billion. 

The company’s net operating income in the second quarter 2016 dropped to $180 million, compared to $3.6 billion in the same period of 2015. The reduction was primarily due to the drop in prices for oil and gas and lower refinery margins. Cost reductions contributed positively to the results.

Statoil reported a loss of $302 million for the quarter, compared to a profit of $866 million in the corresponding quarter of 2015.

Further, the company’s revenues dropped 37 percent during the quarter to $10.895 billion, from $17.4 billion in the same period last year.

The Norwegian company delivered equity production of 1,959 mboe per day in the second quarter. The underlying production growth in the quarter, after adjusting for divestments, was 6% compared to the second quarter of last year.

Statoil said it is lowering its capex guidance for 2016 from $13 billion to $12 billion and its exploration guidance for 2016 from $2 billion to $1.8 billion. Production guidance remains unchanged, and expected annual organic production growth is 1% from 2014 to 2017.

“We delivered solid operational performance with strong production growth and progress on project development and execution. Our financial results were affected by low oil and gas prices in the quarter,” says Eldar Sætre, President and CEO of Statoil ASA.

Offshore Energy Today Staff