Genel upbeat as it slashes 2015 revenue targets
WEAKNESS in the oil market has forced Kurdistan-focused Genel Energy to cut its revenue forecast for 2015.
The company revealed yesterday that it has revised its guidance from $500m (£331m) to $600m at a Brent price of $80 a barrel, to $350m to $400m at $50 a barrel. Guidance on capital expenditure was also reduced, by 30 per cent to $200m to $250m, down 70 per cent on 2014.
Despite the cuts, the firm said a combination of low development and operating costs and a production sharing contract model had created a “robust Kurdistan Region of Iraq oil business very resilient to sustained low oil prices”. Production in 2014 grew by 58 per cent year-on-year to 69,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, with “significant further growth expected in 2015”.
Genel chief executive Tony Hayward said: “Our robust balance sheet, coupled with rising onshore oil production amongst the lowest cost in the world, and the significant financial flexibility in the portfolio, leaves us well positioned to continue to grow even in a period of sustained low oil prices.”
Shares in Genel were up by 3.46 per cent yesterday.