Africa-focused Tullow expects good year

LONDON, Jan. 13 (UPI) -- Africa-focused Tullow Oil said a business reset in 2015 meant it was starting the year with the financial buffer needed to yield strong production figures.

Chief Executive Aidan Heavey said financial maneuvering last year left it with "financial headroom" of $1.9 billion to start 2016. Difficult market conditions, which came largely as the result of low oil prices, pushed efficiency to the forefront of the company's financial agenda.

"We continue to focus on driving down our costs and capital expenditure," he said in a statement. "Accordingly, we have a diversified balance sheet which supports our planned activities for the year ahead."

In West Africa, the company said its working interest of total oil production should be in the range of 73,000 to 80,000 barrels of oil equivalent, driven in large part by projects near the coast of Ghana.

In December, Tullow, which has headquarters in London, sent its full development plans to the Ghanaian government for the offshore Jubilee field. Though restricted by technical issues at a gas compression system last year, the field's gas and oil reserves are expected to help transform the nation's economy.

Tullow is forecasting a 2016 average production rate at Jubilee at around 101,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.

Progress on the Tullow-operated Tweneboa Enyenra Ntomme, or TEN field, is nearly complete and on schedule for the first batch of produced oil by the summer. At its peak, the company said the prospect is expected to produce about 80,000 barrels of oil per day.

Like its peers, Tullow said it cut its capital expense plans from $1.7 billion to $1.1 billion in 2016 and was looking to scale back even further.

"Despite current low oil prices, Tullow expects to maintain sufficient liquidity throughout 2016," the company said.