Results round-up

BG Group was doing all it could in 2015 to offset commodity price falls, it revealed in its final results on Friday, with revenue and earnings down significantly on the prior year.

The FTSE 100 company - soon to be part of Shell - saw upstream production rise 16% during the year to 31 December, to 704,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

BG Group also saw 282 LNG cargoes delivered, an increase of 58%. The lower commodity prices did have an impact on BG's financial results, as expected, with Upstream EBITDA down 35% to $4.17bn (£2.86bn), and LNG EBITDA down 46% to $1.46bn. Business performance earnings were $1.7bn and the company's earnings per share for the year was 49.7c - both down 58%.

Total earnings were $2.33bn, and total earnings per share was 68.2c. BG Group managed to rein in its spending in 2015, with capex down 32% to $6.39bn, and cost and efficiency savings targets of $300m was exceeded. Free cash outflow was down 8% to $2.33bn.

Chief executive Helge Lund said the board was pleased with 2015's results, which came in line or ahead of their guidance for the year. "The ramp up of both LNG trains at our QCLNG project in Australia and the ramp up in Brazil, including the start-up of our sixth FPSO, drove a strong E&P operational performance", he said.

"The addition of new low cash cost volumes in Brazil and Australia, and delivery of our operating and capital cost savings has helped to partly mitigate the impact of lower commodity prices", he added.

BG Group's disposals through the year came to a total of $5.19bn, with net cash inflow before dividends of $3.36bn.

The company's board said there would be no final dividend, with completion of the combination with Royal Dutch Shell expected prior to Shell's fourth quarter dividend record date.

Shell shareholders approved the controversial combination on 27 January and BG shareholders a day later, despite many believing the deal no longer made financial sense given the volatile commodities price environment globally.

Faroe Petroleum experienced a good year of production in 2015, though it was looking at a muted year ahead in its operational update on Friday.

The AIM-traded independent oil and gas firm with operations focused in the UK and Norway said its total average economic production for the full year was at the upper end of guidance, at approximately 10,530 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Approximately 58% of that was liquids and 42% gas, with the main fields in Faroe's portfolio performing above expectations in 2015, leading to the upward adjustment of production guidance announced in November 2015.

"2015 was another year of growth and good progress for Faroe, despite a backdrop of significantly lower commodity prices", said chief executieve Graham Stewart.

He said the company delivered its exploration drilling programme safely and under budget, adding further 2C resources and doubling its 2P reserves in high quality assets.

"Our diverse North Sea production portfolio also outperformed expectation, averaging 10,530 boepd with low unit operating costs, and we ended the year with a significant cash position of over £90m and a largely undrawn debt facility", Stewart added.

During the year, two new infill wells were brought on stream in Brage, which contributed to the reduction in unit operating costs. The acquisition of interests in the Blane and Enoch fields was also completed in November.

The company also ended the year in what it described as a robust financial position , with £91m in reserves, up from £68m a year earlier.

It drew $33m (£22.7m) against its reserve based lending facility over the period, and made exploration and appraisal capex of around £61m pre-tax and £13m of production capex.

"Looking ahead at 2016, we are well-prepared to face the challenges of a continuing period of low commodity prices, while seeking to capitalise on our strong financial position ti pursue consolidation opportunities in our core areas on the UK and Norwegian continental shelves", Stewart concluded.

Faroe's board anticipated exploration capex in 2016 of approximately £50m pre-tax, and production capex around £20m. The company's 2016 hedging programme was in place, with 65% of gas production hedged on a post-tax basis at 45p-50p per therm.

It was looking at 2016 production in the range of 7,000-9,000 boepd from all fields, including production from the Njord and Hyme fields until the end of May 2016 in accordance with plans for the Njord Future Project.

Faroe said it also had a range of cost reduction measures underway, both internally and at its joint venture operations.