Okea earned 3.5 billion from operations – E24

The oil company Okea delivers stronger operating results in the first quarter of the year than in the same period last year. The company writes down values ​​on Statfjord, but writes up values ​​on Yme.

This appears in the company’s report for the first quarter.

Okea operates fields such as Draugen and Brage, and is a partner in fields such as Statfjord, Gjøa, Yme and Ivar Aasen.

These are some of the company’s key figures:

• Okea delivers an operating profit of NOK 3.47 billion in the first quarter, from NOK 2.95 billion at the same time last year
• The company delivered profit after tax of minus NOK 49.4 million in the quarter, down from NOK 226 million last year
• Gross operating profit was NOK 2.16 billion, up from NOK 1.59 billion in last year’s period

The company increases its estimate for the investments in 2024 to between NOK 3.2 billion and 3.7 billion. Previously, the estimate was between NOK 2.8 billion and 3.3 billion.

The increase is linked to the investment decision at Bestla that was taken in March. In addition, the company mentions, among other things, drilling at Brage and Statfjord, extension of Statfjord’s life and work at Statfjord East and the electrification of Draugen.

The company received an average of $82 a barrel for its oil in the quarter, up from $77.7 a barrel in the first quarter of last year. The company received a gas price equivalent to 55.1 dollars a barrel, down from 116.3 dollars a barrel a year ago.

Record high production

The company produced 42,100 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the first quarter, up from 22,210 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the same period last year.

– The all-time highest production in the quarter follows the Statfjord purchase combined with strong deliveries, particularly from our self-operated assets, says CEO Svein J. Liknes in Okea.

Okea maintains its estimate of a production of 35,000–40,000 barrels of oil equivalent for 2024.

Last year, the company forked over two billion for a stake in the Statfjord field. Okea has previously reported write-downs of values ​​linked to Statfjord, after estimates for production and reserves have been adjusted down.

– At Statfjord, we work closely with the operator to improve production, says Liknes.

The company is currently working on developing a solution with land-based power for the Draugen field, which will cut emissions from the field by 200,000 tonnes of CO₂ equivalents per year. Production of the power cable will start this summer, and the electrification will be underway in 2027, Okea states.

Changes book values

As Okea has previously mentioned in an update, it writes down values ​​at Statfjord, but writes up Yme. Overall, the company books write-downs of NOK 158 million.

The company states that it is writing down values ​​of NOK 247 million related to technical goodwill at Statfjord, among other things driven by negative developments in production.

Okea has previously written down the values ​​at Yme, and now these have been written up again by NOK 102 million after the price of oil for future delivery has risen.

The company bases its book value calculations on an oil price assumption of $84.8 a barrel in 2024, $76.3 a barrel in 2025, $72.7 a barrel in 2026, $76 a barrel in 2027 and $76.1 a barrel from 2028.