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RNS Number : 4246A
Tullow Oil PLC
24 May 2023
TULLOW OIL PLC
2023 Annual General Meeting - CEO Statement
24 May 2023 - Tullow Oil plc (Tullow) issues the following
statement from its Chief Executive Officer, Rahul Dhir, ahead of
its Annual General Meeting (AGM). The meeting will take place at
Tullow Oil plc, Building 9, Chiswick Park, London, W4 5XT at 11:00
BST today. We are also enabling shareholders to listen to the AGM
as well as participate remotely. Instructions for joining the audio
cast can be found at the end of this statement or within the Notice
of Meeting.
The Group will publish a Trading Statement and Operational
Update on 12 July 2023.
Statement from Rahul Dhir, Chief Executive Officer, Tullow Oil
plc:
"Dear Shareholders,
I would like to take the opportunity at today's Annual General
Meeting to reflect on the progress we have made since our last
meeting and focus on the conviction we have that our business is on
a path from recovery to growth. We find ourselves today at an
inflection point. Strong operational and financial performance has
created a business with strong foundations that is consistently
delivering free cash flow, and concurrently, we have created a
unique platform of assets and capabilities to deliver growth and
value.
2022 - a year of strong delivery
As I outlined at our 2022 Full Year results in March, it was a
year of strong business and financial performance. The cornerstone
of strong performance is always safety, and I am proud that we
recorded a second successive year of industry top quartile safety
performance with no recordable incidents and no Tier 1 or 2 process
safety events during the year. Other notable milestones in the year
included:
- Group net production of 61,120 bopd, up 6% year-on-year,
leading to free cash flow of $267 million.
- Accelerated deleveraging to net debt to $1.9 billion, hitting
our gearing target of below 1.5x, 3 years ahead of plan.
- Excellent drilling and completion performance enabled us to
accelerate the 2022 drill schedule and four Jubilee wells and two
Enyenra wells were brought onstream during the year.
- Transition of operatorship to Tullow on the Jubilee FPSO is
resulting in increased uptime and lower operating costs.
- First commercialisation of Jubilee gas in Ghana through an
interim agreement - an important step towards agreeing long-term
commercial terms for future volumes of the significant gas resource
at Jubilee and TEN.
- Delivered over $450 million to our host governments in taxes
and royalties; spent $173 million with local suppliers, supported
6,000 students with STEM scholarships or education support.
- Progressed our journey towards Net Zero by 2030; with work
ongoing to eliminate routine flaring in Ghana by 2025 and Letter of
Intent signed with the Ghana Forestry commission for our
nature-based carbon offset project.
Update on 2023 progress and outlook
As previously outlined, 2023 will be a year of two halves, split
by the major milestone of the Jubilee South East (JSE) project
which remains on track to come on stream around the middle of the
year. This will materially step-up production from the Jubilee
field to average c.95,000 bopd in 2023 and exceed 100,000 bopd
gross in the second half of the year. Our forecast capital
expenditure of $400 million is weighted to the first half of the
year, with free cash flow generation up in the second half and
beyond.
The first of five Jubilee wells to be brought onstream this
year, came online in the past few days at initial rates of c.17,000
bopd, above expectations. With three JSE producers and one injector
still to come on stream, we are confident in the production ramp-up
we have outlined in the second half of the year.
Other key updates from across the business include:
- Net production in the first quarter of 2023 was 53,700 bopd.
Full-year Group production guidance of 58,000 - 64,000 bopd is
unchanged.
- Jubilee production in the first quarter of 2023 was net 28,100
bopd (72,700 bopd), lower largely due to reduced water injection in
late 2022 and into the first quarter of 2023, which was rectified
in February 2023. Production from TEN held at 11,200 bopd net
(20,300 bopd gross) and the non-operated portfolio delivered 14,400
bopd net, in line with expectations.
- Multi-year drilling programme in Ghana continues, with three
Jubilee wells drilled, two completed, and the third completion
under way.
- Good engagement ongoing with the Government of Ghana ahead of
the planned formal submission of an amendment to the TEN Plan of
Development (PoD) and securing a Gas Sales Agreement by mid-year.
The amended TEN (PoD) sets out a clear pathway for creating value
from the TEN fields alongside the proposed commercial agreement for
the long-term supply of gas in Ghana from the TEN and Jubilee
fields. A successful outcome would result in a significant volume
of bookable gas reserves (in the range of 150-200 bcf net) on
TEN.
- Production from Gabon and Côte d'Ivoire averaged 14,400 bopd
net in the first quarter of the year, broadly in line with
expectations.
- Proactive portfolio management through a swap deal agreed with
Perenco in Gabon, enhancing Tullow's exposure to our preferred
fields, and giving greater access to future upside around existing
infrastructure.
- Increased exposure to oil price upside as hedges stepped down
in May 2023 creating c.60% upside exposure for the rest of the
year.
- Kenya Field Development Plan submitted to the Government of
Kenya and regulator, EPRA, in March; approvals, including
ratification by the parliament, expected to conclude this year.
- Following the recent withdrawal of the Kenya Joint Venture
Partners due to differing internal strategic reasons, Tullow will
have 100% working interest in Blocks 10BB, 13T and 10BA. Taking
full control creates more optionality, gives Tullow more
flexibility in the ongoing process to secure strategic partners,
creates a simpler Joint Venture Partnership and streamlines project
delivery. Detailed farm-out discussions continue with a number of
companies we remain focused on securing a strategic partnership
this year.
- Two disputed Ghanaian tax assessments filed for arbitration
with International Chamber of Commerce in London in February 2023.
We believe these assessments are without merit and we have high
confidence in the strength of our cases. Despite taking this formal
step to resolution, engagement with the Government of Ghana,
including the GRA, continues with the aim of resolving these
disputes on a mutually acceptable basis.
Changes to our Board
Jeremy Wilson retired from the Tullow Board in November
following nine years of service. Mike Daly will have also served
nine years at the end of this month and will step down following
this AGM. I am grateful for both Jeremy and Mike's guidance during
the last three years.
Richard Miller was confirmed as Chief Financial Officer (CFO),
having already made a significant contribution to Tullow during his
tenure as Interim CFO. Richard continues to make a significant
impact as we work to deliver our business plan.
We have also appointed a new independent non-executive Director
of Tullow in Roald Goethe who joined us earlier this year. As a
long-term supporter and shareholder of Tullow, Roald is familiar
with Tullow's strategy and aligned with our commitments as a
trusted partner to our host nations. He also brings a deep
understanding of the oil and gas industry in Africa with an
entrepreneurial perspective.
Material near-term catalysts to unlock value
The Board remains confident that the business plan we have laid
out will continue to deliver growth and unlock value,
including:
- Increasing gross Jubilee production to over 100,000 bopd,
while keeping relentless focus on production from the remainder of
our fields, will transform our cash flow generation starting in the
second half of this year.
- A long-term gas supply agreement with the Government of Ghana
for indigenous gas will not only enhance energy security and
facilitate industrial development in Ghana, but also unlock another
revenue stream for Tullow and the Joint Venture Partnership from
the substantial gas resource base both at Jubilee and TEN.
- Kenya holds the potential to add material reserves and create
value for Kenya and our shareholders in the longer term, for
minimal capex outlay today.
- Implementing our infrastructure-led exploration strategy to
maximise value around our producing assets in West Africa, where we
have a deep subsurface understanding, and access to infrastructure
enables rapid development of discoveries. We also retain material
positions in the emerging basins of Guyana and Argentina, where we
continue to seek opportunities to unlock value from the significant
resource base.
We continue to progress a range of options to address our debt
maturities and position the business for a successful refinancing.
We are on track to deliver in excess $800 million of free cash flow
at $80/bbl in the period 2023-2025. This will enable us to reach
our goal of being a low debt business with cash gearing of 1x or
below and provide us with the financial flexibility to pursue value
accretive opportunities or consider future shareholder returns.
I would like to thank our investors, host nations and host
communities for your support and look forward to continuing this
journey together to drive material value creation for all
stakeholders."
Rahul Dhir, Chief Executive Officer, Tullow Oil plc
AGM AUDIO CAST
11:00am (BST)
This year, we are enabling shareholders to listen to a live
audio cast of the AGM as well as participate remotely.
In order to participate at the meeting, you will need to visit
http://www.meetnow.global/TULLAGM2023 on your device operating a
compatible browser using the latest version of Chrome, Firefox,
Edge or Safari. Please note that Internet Explorer is not
supported. It is highly recommended that you check your system
capabilities in advance of the meeting day.
If you are a shareholder, you can use your unique Shareholder
Reference Number and PIN as displayed on your Form of
Proxy/Attendance Card. If you are an appointed proxy or a corporate
representative you will have had to be provided with a unique
invite code to enter the meeting and exercise your rights. These
credentials will be issued one working day prior to the meeting,
conditional on evidence of your proxy appointment or corporate
representative appointment having been received and accepted. If
you have not been provided with your meeting access credentials,
please ensure you contact Computershare on the morning of the
meeting, but no later than one hour before the start of the
meeting.
Access to the meeting via http://www.meetnow.global/TULLAGM2023
will be available from 10.00am. During the meeting, you must ensure
you are connected to the internet at all times in order to vote
when the Chair commences polling on Resolutions being put to the
meeting. Therefore, it is your responsibility to ensure
connectivity for the duration of the meeting.
Technical issues
If you experience any technical issues with the site you may
either call our Registrar on the telephone number provided on the
site or once you have entered the meeting, you can raise your
question using the chat function. If you have technical issues
prior to the start of the meeting you should contact our Registrar
on the shareholder helpline.
Process
The process of asking questions and accessing the AGM audio
casting will be further explained within the application and
located on the information page.
CONTACTS
==================== ====================
Tullow Oil plc Camarco
(London) (London)
(+44 20 3249 9000) (+44 20 3781 9244)
Nicola Rogers Billy Clegg
Matthew Evans Georgia Edmonds
Rebecca Waterworth
==================== ====================
Notes to editors
Tullow is an independent oil & gas, exploration and
production group which is quoted on the London, Irish and Ghanaian
stock exchanges (symbol: TLW) and is a constituent of the FTSE250
index. The Group has interests in over 30 exploration and
production licences across eight countries. In March 2021, Tullow
committed to becoming Net Zero on its Scope 1 and 2 emissions by
2030.
For further information, please refer to our website at
www.tullowoil.com.
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Facebook: www.facebook.com/TullowOilplc
LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/Tullow-Oil
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END
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