Neptune Energy has reported 2022 net income of $924.4 million, well above the $387.2 million figure reported a year earlier.
The company noted in its latest report that fiscal 2022 production increased to 135.0 kboepd, reflecting the restart of Snøhvit and a full year’s contribution from Duva. However, the extended shutdown of the Touat (Algeria) gas plant operated by the joint venture restricted production growth and, as a result, the group’s production for the full year placed at the lower end of the guide, the company emphasized. Production, including production-equivalent insurance proceeds, was 135.6 kboepd, the company said.
With a contribution from Snøhvit throughout the year, the scheduled restart of Touat and increased production from its new projects at Njord (Norway), Fenja (Norway) and Seagull (UK), Neptune Energy expects production in 2023 be 150 on average. -165 kboepd and to end the year around 180 kboepd.
In 2022, Neptune finalized a cooperation agreement with its partners on its L10 CCS project and continued to mature the project towards concept selection. During the second half of the year, the company formed a partnership with Horisont Energi to develop the Errai CCS project in Norway. Neptune also submitted applications for a CO2 storage license in Norway and the UK, the statement said.
The company further said it will continue to look for opportunities to reduce the carbon intensity of its operations and in December 2022 presented plans for the electrification of Snøhvit and Njord. The Gudrun electrification project is scheduled to become operational in mid-2023.
By 2028, Neptune expects 100 percent of its production in Norway to come from hubs that have been fully or partially electrified.
At the end of 2022, Neptune said it had 2P reserves of 552 mmboe and a reserves-to-production ratio of 11 years. The decrease in reserves reflects the year’s production and the sale of non-core assets in Norway. Its contingent resources increased to 468 Mmboe, mainly due to recent discoveries and license acquisitions in Norway and the Netherlands, providing Neptune with additional growth opportunities, the statement said.
“The last 12 months have seen a dramatic shift in the geopolitical environment that shapes how energy is produced and used. After Russia’s war in Europe it is inevitable that there will be a generational reshaping of political and economic loyalties” , said Neptune Energy Chief Executive Sam Laidlaw.
“In a context of low investment, the lowest commodity prices of the last decade have been replaced by rising prices and marked volatility. This is especially the case for natural gas, due not only to war, but also from the increased awareness of its importance in the energy transition. Having invested more than $7 billion to transform Neptune over the past five years, we are well positioned for these changes, with a portfolio that it now has greater production capacity, more opportunities for lower carbon development and a stronger balance sheet,” Laidlaw said.
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