May 3 (UPI) -- A steady string of successes in oil and gas fields off the coast of Norway means expectations about future performance have improved, Lundin Petroleum said.
The company said in its outline for the first quarter that total production was 82.6 million barrels of oil equivalent per day, at the upper end of its guidance. Not counting assets spun off to a new division in April, Lundin said its operating costs during the first quarter were below $5 per barrel.
"This outstanding performance has led us to revise Lundin Petroleum's full year production guidance to between 75 million and 85 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and to reduce our cash operating cost guidance for the full year to $4.90 per barrel," President and CEO Alex Schneiter said in a statement.
Lundin gained leverage in Norwegian waters last year when regional major Statoil spent $538 million to acquire an 11.9 percent stake in the company. Last week, the Norwegian government revised the estimate for the reserve potential in the company's Edvard Grieg oil field in the North Sea by between 10 million and 30 million barrels of recoverable oil. Lundin put the initial estimate at 220 million barrels of oil equivalents.
In a separate statement, the government confirmed Lundin about to complete drilling an appraisal well in the Gohta oil and gas discovery in the southern Barents Sea.
"We are firmly on track to meet our production growth targets," Schneiter said. "Our organic growth story is as exciting as ever with significant future potential."
Apart from Russia, Norway is the lead oil and natural gas supplier to the European market, designating nearly all of its offshore production for exports. Recent data assessments of the eastern and northern parts of the Barents Sea, areas previously a source of dispute with Russia, led to upward revisions of the reserve estimate by up to 65 percent.
Schneiter ascended to president and CEO two years ago after taking over for Ashley Heppenstall, who led the company since 2002. The shakeup came after Lundin in early 2015 joined its peers struggling to navigate the weak crude oil market by announcing it would cut its spending plans that year by 31 percent.
The company posted revenue for the first quarter of $421.5 million, compared with $145.1 million during first quarter 2016.
