Norwegian oil firm Aker BP said it would slightly increase its capital and exploration spending this year as it reported second-quarter results that fell year-on-year.
Aker's net income fell to $62 million in the quarter from $128 million a year earlier. The company is the result of a merger of BP's Norwegian oil assets and the Det norske oil firm controlled by billionaire Kjell-Inge Roekke.
The company said it would raise its spending on exploring new oil and gas fields to $550 million this year, from its previous guidance for $500 million.
Capital expenditure is now seen in a range of $1.6-$1.7 billion compared with previous guidance for $1.6 billion.
Aker BP said it had made an oil discovery with partner LOTOS of Poland estimated to hold between 80 million and 200 million barrels of oil equivalent, in an area with several oil and gas discoveries, nicknamed NOAKA.
Aker BP and its partner in some of the NOAKA fields, state-controlled giant Equinor, are at odds about how to develop them.
The development of the Johan Sverdrup field was progressing well, Aker BP said. Scheduled to start production in November, it is the biggest oil find made off Norway in more than three decades and is likely to account for 25% of the Nordic country's total petroleum output at its peak in 2022.
Aker BP reported on July 4 that its net sales of oil for had reached 140,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the quarter.
(Reporting by Gwladys Fouche; editing by Gopakumar Warrier)
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