30th May 2007 12:00
Tullow Oil PLC30 May 2007 Tullow Oil plc - Annual General Meeting 30 May 2007 - At today's Annual General Meeting Tullow Chairman, Pat Plunkett,made the following statement: During 2006, the combination of strong growth in Tullow's business andfavourable oil and gas pricing allowed the Group to report record operationaland financial results. In September 2006, the strong financial condition of thebusiness and support of our banks and shareholders also allowed Tullow toundertake the biggest transaction in the Company's history, the US$1.1 billionacquisition of Hardman Resources which completed in January 2007. Tullow has a balanced international oil and gas business and is focused oncontinued growth over the coming years. During 2007 the principal focus will beon the Group's exploration portfolio; important high-impact wells recentlycommenced in Uganda and Namibia, while a multi-well programme in India is alsoscheduled for later in the year. Tullow's UK Southern Gas Basin business achieved record levels of bothproduction and price realisation during 2006. The expansion in production wasdriven principally by steady increases from both the Schooner and Ketch fields,where field operations were optimised and new wells brought on stream, and astrong performance from the remainder of the portfolio. Looking to 2007, theThurne and Kelvin developments are each progressing satisfactorily and arescheduled to come on stream in the fourth quarter while first gas from theKetch-9 well is expected towards the end of June, later than previouslyanticipated. On the exploration front, three gas exploration wells are plannedin the Southern North Sea, while oil exploration wells on the Peveril and Acerprospects in the Central North Sea have both been unsuccessful. During the second half of 2006 there was a significant reduction in spot UK gasprices as new sources of supply came on stream and relatively mild weatherconditions reduced seasonal demand. Looking forward, the overall gas supply anddemand balance within the UK should lead to greater overall gas price stabilityand further convergence between UK and continental European gas prices.Tullow's consistent investment and strong cost control disciplines, allied to anactive forward sale and hedging programme should continue to ensure that theGroup generates attractive returns and maintains production from this business. Tullow has been active in Africa since 1986 and has developed a high qualityexploration and production portfolio across the continent. During 2006, twoimportant oil field developments came on stream, West Espoir in Cote d'Ivoireand Okume in Equatorial Guinea and a key water injection project also commencedon the M'Boundi field in Congo (Brazzaville). Production from these projects,allied to existing African output and the Chinguetti field in Mauritania,acquired as part of the Hardman transaction, should result in Tullow's Africanoil production continuing to increase over the remainder of 2007. Tullow plans to continue its active exploration programme in Africa by drillinga total of 10 exploration wells during 2007, four of which will be in Uganda.Following the successful 2006 drilling campaign, the Lake Albert Rift Basin inUganda has the potential to become a new world class oil province. The Nzizi-2appraisal well recently spudded and will be followed by two further appraisalwells on the Mputa discovery in order to refine current reserve estimates. Thesewells, combined with 3D seismic, will be used to support the sanction of anearly production system leading to first oil in 2009. Preparations are also inprogress to drill the potentially significant Ngassa and Kingfisher-2 prospectsand the Nabors 221 rig has been contracted with a view to commencing thisprogramme during the third quarter. Tullow's Asian interests demonstrated substantial growth during 2006, withfurther expansion scheduled for 2007. In Bangladesh, the Bangora project hasrecently completed its first year of production, during which time twosuccessful appraisal wells were drilled, commerciality was declared andsignificant increases in production and reserves were recorded. In Pakistan,first gas from the Chachar development is imminent, while a two well explorationprogramme on the high-impact Kohat Block is planned to start in the fourthquarter. Prospects have also recently been selected for a programme of fourexploration wells on the CB-ON/1 block in India also starting in the fourthquarter. Recent progress in Tullow's South American assets, deriving from interestsobtained through the Hardman acquisition, has also been good. Tullow has beenannounced as the successful bidder for two highly prospective Trinidad licenses,2a/b and Guayaguayare, under the country's sixth exploration licensing round. InSuriname, Production Sharing Contracts were executed in February for two onshoreconcessions, Uitkijk and Coronie, which lie adjacent to the country's mainproducing Tambaredjo field. Exploration drilling in Uitkijk is scheduled tocommence in July this year. A more detailed review of operations and 2007 performance will be provided inour Trading Statement and Operational Update on 11 July. Our Interim Resultswill be released on 4 September. Tullow's objective is to continue to enhance and grow its business across eachof its core areas through a mixture of exploration and development activitiesand continued portfolio management. The strong performance in 2006, alongsidethe exciting exploration and appraisal programmes planned for 2007, allow us tomaintain a long term perspective and effectively allocate our financial andother resources to maintain our growth. I would like to thank shareholders and employees for their continued support ofthe business and I look forward to reporting further progress as the yearunfolds. Pat Plunkett For further information contact:Tullow Oil plc Citigate Dewe Rogerson Murray Consultants(+44 20 8996 1000) (+44 20 7638 9571) (+353 1 498 0300) Martin Jackson Joe MurrayAidan Heavey Tom Hickey Chris Perry Notes to Editors Tullow is a leading independent oil & gas, exploration and production group,quoted on the London and Irish Stock Exchanges (symbol: TLW) and is aconstituent of the FTSE 250 Index. The Group has interests in over 120exploration and production licences across 23 countries and focuses on four coreareas: Europe, Africa, South Asia and South America. Tullow's European interests are primarily focused on gas in the UK SouthernNorth Sea where it has significant interests in the Caister-Murdoch System andthe Thames-Hewett areas and operates over 70% of its production. In Africa, Tullow has exploration and production in Gabon, Cote d'Ivoire, Congo(Brazzaville), Mauritania and Equatorial Guinea and a large gas fielddevelopment and appraisal programme in Namibia. Tullow also has explorationprogrammes in Mauritania, Senegal, Cameroon, Uganda, Congo (DRC), Tanzania,Madagascar, Angola and Ghana. In South Asia, Tullow has exploration and production in Pakistan and Bangladeshand high impact exploration activities in India. In South America Tullow has high impact exploration interests in Trinidad andTobago, French Guiana, Suriname and the Falkland Islands. For further information please refer to our website at www.tullowoil.com ENDS This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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