Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd managing director Dr Kenneth Pereira giving his views on the current oil market at the luncheon talk organised by MIDF Investment Bank Bhd in Kuala Lumpur on Jan 29.
KUALA LUMPUR: Hibiscus Petroleum Bhd
has unveiled some business plans to welcome 2017 and stay profitable, and the key includes enhancing production in its main asset, Anasuria Cluster, said managing director Kenneth Pereira.
For the first quarter ended Sept 30, 2016, the oil and gas (O & G) company’s net profit rose to RM80.28mil from RM4.75mil a year ago due to the sale of O & G products from the Anasuria Cluster.
“Hibiscus Petroleum will also manage its cost level and look at valued solutions to enhance production,” he told reporters at the company’s AGM in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday.
Pereira said with the oil prices slowing down, the company did not want to rely on anything and just to focus on cost and things that matter.
“Our opex (operational expenditure) per barrel is a very important metric. That is the most important thing ... from a management perspective you need to focus on things you can control and we can’t control oil price so we will focus on cost management,” he said.
Earlier, the company was reported as saying that over 271,000 barrels of oil produced from the various fields within the Anasuria Cluster were sold at a realised price of US$45.21 per barrel, generating revenue of RM53.7mil while average production stood at over 3,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Opex per barrel of oil equivalent (boe) of Anasuria was recorded at US$18.39 per boe during the quarter.
Several projects have been identified for the Anasuria Cluster, which were scheduled for execution between mid-2017 and mid-2018 and they are expected to increase production volumes by bringing on-stream petroleum resources that have already been discovered.
The oil prices today were reported to be declining in Asia as crude output increased in every major export regions despite plans by Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and Russia to cut output.
International Brent crude oil futures were trading at US$54.55 per barrel at 0128 GMT, down 39 US cents, or 0.7%, from their last close.
US West Texas Intermediate crude futures were at US$51.32 a barrel, down 47 US cents, or 0.9%.
Meanwhile, chairman Zainul Rahim Mohd Zain said at the current oil price, which was above US$40 per barrel, the company was quite comfortable.
“But if it dips below US$30 per barrel, we will really need to look at different options to tighten our belt to remain profitable,” he said.
On other business development, Zainul said, the company was waiting for approval from Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) following its acquisition in North Sabah enhanced oil recovery (EOR).
Shell has reached an agreement to sell its 50% equity interest in the 2011 EOR production-sharing contract (PSC) to Hibiscus Petroleum’s indirect unit, SEA Hibiscus Sdn Bhd, for US$25mil (RM104.8mil).
Currently, Sabah Shell Petroleum Co (25%) is the operator, partnering with Shell Sabah Selatan (25%) and Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd (50%) in the PSC, which includes the Labuan Crude Oil Terminal, and the fields of St Joseph, South Furious, SF30 and Barton, all located offshore Sabah.
The transaction is expected to be completed in 2017, subject to getting the approval of Petronas and Shell’s partner Petronas Carigali.
With the completion, SEA Hibiscus Sdn Bhd will have a 50% equity stake and operatorship of the PSC and its assets. - Bernama
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