Aker BP expects Norway's largest oilfield Johan Sverdrup to produce at peak levels well into 2025, it said on Wednesday, taking a more bullish view than the field's operator and boosting its shares.
The Norwegian company, partly owned by BP, also reported higher than expected third-quarter core profit, while forecasting full-year output in the top half of previous guidance and slashing cost projections.
Its shares were up 2.7% at 1330 GMT, outperforming Europe's oil and gas index, which was down 0.2%.
The shares were helped by the Johan Sverdrup comments, Jefferies analyst Mark Wilson said. Aker BP owns a 31.6% stake in the field.
Last week, Johan Sverdrup's operator Equinor forecast the field would come off plateau production of around 755,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boed) from early 2025.
"My view on this is slightly more optimistic than what the operator has," Aker BP CEO Karl Johnny Hersvik told analysts, predicting peak production would continue "well into" 2025.
Aker BP reported quarterly earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of $2.61 billion, down from $3.17 billion a year earlier but ahead of analysts' forecast of $2.48 billion in a company-compiled consensus.
Third-quarter output fell to 414,700 boed from 449,800 boed a year earlier due to extensive planned maintenance, while realised oil prices fell to $80 per barrel from $88 a year ago.
Output is expected to recover in the fourth quarter, and Aker BP revised its full-year guidance to 430,000-440,000 boed from 420,000-440,000 boed previously.
At the same time, it cut its full-year production cost guidance to $6.5 per barrel of oil equivalent (boe) from $7.
Aker BP's third-quarter operating profit fell to $1.70 billion from $2.62 billion a year earlier, weighed down by $304 million in goodwill impairments.
It maintained a dividend of $0.60 per share for the quarter, and 2024 capital spending guidance of $5 billion.
(Reuters - Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by Sonia Cheema and Mark Potter)
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