29/01/2015 06:50 AST
Despite the steep slide in global oil prices, Swedish exploration and production firm Tethys Oil says it has notched up record revenues in Omani oil exports in 2014 based on sales averaging an impressive $103.9 per barrel.
The revelation provides a useful indicator of how other oil companies are expected to fare during 2014, a year marked by dramatic volatility in international oil prices. The year closed with Omani crude trading on the Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME) at an average price of $55.48 per barrel, down from a mid-year high of over $111 per barrel.
Announcing its full year sales for 2014, the Stockholm-based energy firm, which has interests in three blocks onshore Oman, said it achieved “record net sales” of 1.046 billion Swedish krona (equivalent to around $126.37 million). All of the oil sales, totalling 1,464,228 barrels (after government take), relate to production from Blocks 3 & 4 located in the eastern part of the Sultanate. “The growth in sales from Tethys’ production in the Sultanate of Oman continued in the fourth quarter 2014, and the company reports record net sales of 1,046 (million Swedish krona) for the full year 2014. The increasingly stronger Dollar to the SEK (Swedish krona) during the fourth quarter has positively affected the company’s liquidity,” Magnus Nordin, Managing Director, said in an update on the company’s performance during Q4 2014 and Full-Year 2014.
Tethys has a 30 per cent interest in the blocks, which covers an area of 34,610 sq km. CC Energy Development SAL Oman branch is the operator with a 50 per cent share, while Mitsui E&P Middle East BV (20 per cent) is a partner.
In line with the slide in global oil prices during the year, average selling prices per barrel of Omani crude also declined quarter-on-quarter, according to the oil firm. Starting from an average of $106.6 per barrel in Q1 2014, the price slid marginally to $105.9 per barrel in Q2. It spiked to an average of $107.6 per barrel in Q3, before ending at $97.1 per barrel in the fourth quarter. The company plans to publish its audited year-end report for 2014 on February 10, 2015.
Tethys also has a 40 per cent interest in Block 15, a 1,400 sq km concession situated in the north western part of central Oman. The balance 60 per cent is held by Odin Energi. The company also has exploration and production assets onshore France and Lithuania.
Oman Daily Observer
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