OSLO, May 7 (Reuters) - Norway's Aker BP, partlyowned by oil major BP, reported forecast-beatingquarterly earnings on Monday, and said it may drill more wellsthis year than previously planned.
The company's January-March operating profit (EBIT) was $472million compared with average expectations of $449 million in aReuters poll of analysts, and $273 million during the samequarter a year ago.
Aker BP now plans to participate in 12-14 exploration wellsin 2018, of which 8-10 would be operated by the company itself.In February it said it would participate in 12 wells, of whichit would operate seven.
The Norway-focused independent oil company produced 158,600barrels of oil equivalents per day (boepd) in the first quarter,up from 145,300 boepd a year ago, mainly due to a higher stakein Valhall field, it said on April 17.(Reporting by Terje Solsvik, editing by Ole Petter Skonnord)