Africa-focused Tullow Oil cuts spending guidance by 20 percent

June 28 (UPI) -- Africa-focused oil and gas explorer Tullow said it was trimming its spending plans as the company's chief executive officer focuses on financial discipline.

"Tullow continues to make good progress despite tough market conditions," CEO Paul McDade said in a statement.

Aidan Heavey in April handed over the reins of the office of the chief executive to McDade, who served as the chief operating officer since 2004.

Tullow, which has headquarters in London, is invested heavily offshore West Africa. The company said first-half production of around 81,400 barrels of oil equivalent per day was in line with its expectations. First quarter averaged 85,700 barrels of oil equivalent per day, though in February the company said its production for 2017 would likely average 78,000 barrels of oil per day at the low end, a marked increase from the previous year.

So far, the company has offered up for sale a greater stake in its operations in Uganda and worked to fix some of the production infrastructure offshore West Africa, which was hampered last year by equipment problems. At its Jubilee field off the coast of Ghana, the company said it aims to address equipment issues at a floating production vessel over the next two years, but was on pace to resubmit a field development plan by the end of July.

Remediation could take up to 12 weeks, though drilling is set to begin in 2018.

On spending, the company said it revised its guidance for the year by 20 percent to $400 million, which in part reflects lowered expenditure across the entire portfolio

McDade said that, since taking over in April, he's satisfied with the investment decisions so far.

"Financial discipline and efficient capital allocation will be a key focus of my tenure as CEO as we seek to deleverage the company and return to growth even at low oil prices," he said.

Crude oil prices are relatively the same as they were last year, but more than $10 less than two years ago.