BG warns on production goal for 2015
ENERGY firm BG Group warned yesterday that it would not hit its 2015 production target of more than 1m barrels of oil equivalent a day.
In November, shares in the FTSE 100 explorer plummeted as it warned that this year’s output would be flat, largely due to delays to projects.
New chief executive Chris Finlayson – appointed in December to replace Sir Frank Chapman – said its production guidance for this year would be between 630,000 and 660,000 barrels of oil a day.
As a result of this lower starting point and a deal with China’s CNOOC to sell a stake in an Australian liquefied natural gas project, the 2015 production target would not be met, Finlayson said.
Over 2012 as a whole, BG Group said production rose three per cent and earnings jumped three per cent to $4.4bn (£2.8bn). Over the fourth quarter though, earnings slumped 29 per cent to $1bn, which it said was hit by the loss of a one-off $277m tax credit in 2011.
Its announcement sent it to the bottom of the FTSE 100 yesterday morning, although it recovered to close up 3.44 per cent.