Harbour Energy trims production, capex forecasts

(Sharecast News) - North Sea oil and gas producer Harbour Energy trimmed annual production and capital expenditure forecasts due to drilling delays at its Beryl operations. The company said it now expected production between 185 - 193 housand barrels of oil equivalent per day (kboepd) this year, compared with an earlier forecast of 185-200 kboepd.

Total capital expenditure was cut by $100m to $1bn, Harbour said.

Half-year pre-tax profit fell to $429m from $1.49bn a year earlier, due to to higher taxes after the government imposed a windfall levy on energy companies.

"In response to the Energy Profits Levy (EPL) in the UK, we scaled back our activities in certain areas and acted decisively to manage our cost structure. This included a review of our UK organisation, which is expected to deliver annual savings of $50m from 2024, following a $16m one-off charge taken in our half-year financial statements," the company said on Thursday.

Reporting by Frank Prenesti for Sharecast.com