Vår Energi Increases Dividend as Q1 Profit Soars

Reuters
Wednesday, April 27, 2022

Norway's Vår Energi raised its annual dividend and posted a sharp rise in first-quarter profit on Wednesday, aided by a surge in oil and gas prices following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Vår Energi, majority-owned by Italy's Eni, reported a pretax profit of $1.65 billion for the January-March quarter, up from $1.12 billion a year earlier.

The company said under current market conditions, it plans to pay a dividend of $1 billion for 2022, up from $800 million planned earlier.

"The current commodity price environment reflects the significant uncertainties created by Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February," Chief Executive Officer Torger Roed said in a statement.

"The war comes on top of already tight energy markets as global demand recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic."

Cash flow from operations rose by 135% year-on-year in the first quarter to an "exceptional" $2.2 billion, Vår Energi said.

First-quarter dividend will amount to $225 million, or 9 cents a share, and it will be increased to $260 million for the second quarter, Vår Energi said.

The company went public on the Oslo bourse on Feb. 16, a week before the start of the war in Ukraine, making it the largest pure-play oil exploration and production company to list globally in almost a decade.

Vår Energi shares have jumped 36% since listing, tracking the rise in petroleum prices.

The company aims to produce more than 350,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) by the end of 2025, up from the 246,000 boepd in 2021, from oil and gas fields off Norway.


(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche, editing by Terje Solsvik, Subhranshu Sahu and Vinay Dwivedi)

Categories: People & Company News Energy Industry News Activity Europe Production Barents Sea

Related Stories

EnQuest Cancels Dolphin Drilling’s Rig Contract as Kraken Drilling Campaign Hits Hurdle

DNV, Seatrium Team Up for Innovation in Marine and Offshore

Well-Safe Solutions Secures $25M Well Decom Contracts in North Sea

Current News

Danos Leaders Recognized in “40 Under 40” Lists

ExxonMobil to Drill for Gas Off Cyprus in January

Mocean Energy Raising Funds to Advance Wave Energy Tech

Seadrill’s Drillships Getting Ready to Start Work Off Brazil

Subscribe for OE Digital E‑News