BG Group: Egyptian operations in doubt

LONDON, May 1 (UPI) -- Future operations in the natural gas sector in Egypt are at risk because of poor reservoir performance and domestic offtake, BG Group said Thursday.

BG Group announced its first quarter operations were hurt by issues with its liquefied natural gas business in Egypt.

"Group production volumes for the first quarter were consistent with our anticipated seasonal phasing, although production entitlement from Egypt was lower than expected as domestic offtake remains well above contractual commitments and reservoir performance deteriorates," interim Executive Chairman Andrew Gould said in a statement.

BG Group said that no cargoes of LNG left Egypt during the first quarter and profits from that sector of its operations were down 7 percent compared with the previous quarter.

In terms of production, the company said it produced 66,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in Egypt, down 35 percent from fourth quarter 2013.

Looking ahead, the company said it expected "very limited" activity in Egypt because of continued diversions of natural gas to the domestic market.

"In the absence of concerted action from the Egyptian government, the future commercial operation of Egyptian LNG is increasingly at risk," the company said.