Karl Hersvik
Chief Executive Officer
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Aker BP’s second quarter presentation. It was a quarter of strong operational execution and robust financial results. Production averaged 384,000 barrels of oil equivalents per day and operating cash flow was $3.1 billion. And we have raised the lower end and narrowed our production guidance for the year.
Our major projects remain on track with important milestones across Yggdrasil, Valhall PWP–Fenris, Skarv Satellites and Johan Sverdrup Phase 3. At the same time, we continue to strengthen the portfolio for future growth, including through a new strategic collaboration with Equinor. We also maintain a robust financial position with $6 billion in available liquidity and an unchanged quarterly dividend.
Operationally, this was a quarter shaped by seasonally high level of activity with continued high efficiency across the portfolio. Production was lower than in the previous quarter, mainly due to planned maintenance at Edvard Grieg and Ivar Aasen combined with normal quarter-to-quarter variations. Despite these planned impacts, production efficiency was 94%, a very strong performance by industry standards. Production costs increased to $8.8 per barrel, mainly reflecting planned seasonal activity across the portfolio, including maintenance at Edvard Grieg and Ivar Aasen, diving operations at Alvheim and well intervention activity