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Seplat Petroleum Development Company reported on Thursday that its revenues for the half-year ended on June 30, 2016 declined by 42 per cent year-on-year to $143.02 million due to the disruption caused by the suspension of oil exports at the Forcados terminal.  

Seplat, a leading Nigerian independent oil and gas exploration and production company, posted an after-tax loss of $61.17 million for the period, compared with an after-tax profit of N41.48 million in a similar period last year. The company’s H1 2015 revenue was $247.59 million.

“The shut-in and suspension of oil exports at the Forcados terminal since mid-February means we have faced significant challenges in the first half of the year,” said Austin Avuru, Seplat’s CEO. “However, our underlying fundamentals remain strong and we continue to invest to grow our gas business at a rapid rate.”

Seplat said its average working interest production during the period under review fell by 21 per cent to 25,695 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) compared with 32,580 boepd in 2015.

Liquids production fell 51 per cent year-on-year to 11,526 barrels of oil per day (bopd) while gas production rose 59 per cent year-on-year to 85 standard cubic feet per day (MMscf/d) in gas.  

“The first half results have been heavily impacted by events outside of the Company’s control at third party operated infrastructure,” Avuru said. “We expect the second half to see a resumption of exports via the Forcados terminal and concurrently a regular offtake schedule established via the Warri refinery jetty, which in turn will also help ensure gas sales into the domestic market are de-constrained.”

Seplat said the Phase II expansion of its Oben gas processing plant in Edo State remains on track, with the arrival of processing modules into the country. The company said installation and commissioning of the modules are expected to take place by year-end.

The expanded Oben gas plant is expected to increase Seplat’s gross processing capacity from the current 300 MMscf/d to a minimum of 525MMscf/d by year-end. With this gas production capacity, Seplat will be able to supply gas to meet a third of Nigeria’s power generation needs.

“Although 2016 to date has proven challenging, we remain committed to our long-term strategy of maximizing production and cash flows from our operated blocks to deliver value for our stakeholders,” Avuru said.

Seplat is listed on both the Nigerian and London stock exchanges. As at 2.32pm at the NSE on Thursday, the company’s stock price remained flat at N297.83 per share on the NSE.