Enquest delivers 'another good year' of operational performance

Exploration and production company Enquest said on Thursday that it had delivered "another good year of operational performance" in 2023, with production averaging 43,812 barrels of oil equivalent per day, in line with the mid-point of guidance.

Enquest said its daily production figures reflected high levels of uptime and maintenance schedule optimisation.

Operating costs for the year came to roughly $370.0m, better than guidance of $400.0m, with capital costs of approximately $160.0m and decommissioning costs of about $60.0m - both in line with guidance.

Net debt was cut by $236.0m year-on-year to $481.0m, while gross debt contracted $1.4bn to $795.0m.

Going forward, Enquest said it remains focused on maintaining its track record of "upstream operational excellence" and utilising its skills, tax position, and significantly de-leveraged balance sheet to drive growth through acquisition. As far as 2024 was concerned, the group issued production guidance of between 41,000 and 45,000 boepd.

Chief executive Amjad Bseisu said: "Having de-levered the business and with debt maturities reset to 2027, we now aim to build on that strong foundation, utilising our differentiated operating capability and tax assets as we pivot the business to refocus on future growth during 2024.

"Building on this excellent operational performance and by remaining disciplined in our investment decisions, we have set the foundation for a pivot to growth during 2024. The group will provide an update on shareholder return plans when we announce our final audited results in March."

As of 1015 GMT, Enquest shares were up 8.08% at 13.12p.

Reporting by Iain Gilbert at Sharecast.com