Statoil records strong earnings for the fourth quarter

Equinor headquartersEquinor headquarters.Photo. Norway Today Media

Statoil recorded record high production in the final quarter, and during 2017 as a whole. With strong prices, it provided a lot of money at the checkout.

 

A very good result was expected before the presentation in London on Wednesday morning, according to figures Statoil itself collects. In the fourth quarter, there was an expected 3.8 billion dollars in adjusted operating profits.

The phase was $4 billion, up from $1.7 billion in the corresponding quarter in 2016. Underlying production growth for 2017 was 6%.

‘The cash flow was strong for all parts of the business,’ said CEO, Eldar Sætre in a press release.

From minus to plus

An average oil price of approximately $54 a barrel for 2017 gave $3.1 billion in free cash flow for the year, reducing the debt ratio by more than 6%. For the fourth quarter alone, cash flow was $1.3 billion, up from a negative result of $40 million in the corresponding period in 2016.

‘In a strengthened market, we delivered strong earnings and cash flow from all sectors. We recorded record high production in the fourth quarter, and the year as a whole. We expect long-term growth in underlying earnings. In line with our dividend policy, the Board proposes to increase the yield by 4.5% to 0.23 dollars per share, said Sætre.

Less is more

Investment costs had been reduced to $9.4 billion, from an initial $11 billion estimate.

‘This is a result of continued improvement work, and strong project deliveries.

In cooperation with our suppliers, and partners, we got more for less’, said Sætre.

Statoil’s own production in the last quarter of the year was 2,134 million barrels of oil equivalents (FOE) per day, an increase of 2,095 million per day over the same period in 2016. This was due to higher flexible gas production to exploit higher prices, increased production on land in the US, and an escalation of new oil fields.

 

© NTB Scanpix / Norway Today