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(Alliance News) - Iraqi oil producer Gulf Keystone Petroleum Ltd on Tuesday said its revenue fell year-on-year as production and realised prices decreased during the first half of the year.
Production in the six months to June 30 was down 7.8% to 29,362 barrels of oil per day from 31,861 barrels a year before.
Revenue slipped by USD116.2 million from USD95.6 million and pretax profit fell by 9.4% to USD26.7 million from USD24.2 million.
Operating costs increased by 30% to USD18.4 million from USD14.1 million, and per barrel, to USD3.9 from USD3.0. The company said it "undertook certain one-off maintenance projects and incurred additional transportation costs".
Gulf Keystone reported a 6.5% drop in oil price to USD44.8 per barrel from USD47.9 in the first half of 2018.
The company reduced its 2019 gross production guidance to between 30,000 to 33,000 barrels of oil per day from the range of 32,000 to 38,000 barrels of oil per day. The company said this was due to the late start of a drilling campaign at the Shaikan Field in the Kurdistan region of Iraq.
Chief Executive Jon Ferrier said: "The first half of 2019 saw high levels of operational activity as we continue to develop Shaikan targeting a significant, phased, production uplift. Despite some operational delays, we have made considerable headway towards our 55,000 barrels of oil per day production target.
"Activity has further increased during the second half as we remain on track to achieve this milestone in the first half of 2020. As a consequence of the work to increase production in the longer term, the near-term production guidance for the full year has been reduced. However, the Shaikan reservoir, the cornerstone of our equity story, continues to behave strongly."
In July, the company launched a share buyback worth up to USD25 million. The first stage of the buyback, amounting to USD15.0 million, was completed in August. Gulf Keystone now will resume the buyback scheme for the additional USD10.0 million.
Shares in Gulf Keystone were 4.3% lower at 232.45 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.