The company said that its oil sales totaled 2.95 million barrels during the fourth quarter of 2024, up 67 percent compared to the prior quarter and 48 percent against the corresponding quarter a year prior.
Valeura’s oil production benefitted from a full quarter of operations at the Nong Yao C field extension, which came online in August 2024, it said. In addition, aggregate production was lifted by an infill drilling program at the Jasmine field, with the last three wells of the program coming onstream in late November 2024, it said.
“With record oil production and sales volumes in Q4, we have strengthened our cash position to $259 million. This creates a solid platform for our company as we start 2025, which entails another ambitious work program focused on continued growth in value, funded entirely with our cash and cash flow”, Sean Guest, President and CEO, said.
Oil sales were more than production during the quarter as a result of a larger-than-usual inventory position at the end of the third quarter of 2024, the company said. As of December 31, 2024, Valeura held a crude oil inventory of 0.64 million barrels, it said.
Oil revenue during the fourth quarter of 2024 was $226 million, up 62 percent from the prior quarter, with lower prices offsetting higher sales volumes sold. Price realizations averaged approximately $76.7 a barrel during the fourth quarter of 2024, representing a premium of about $2.0 per barrel to the average Brent crude oil benchmark during the period, the company said.
Looking ahead, Valeura said it expects average 2025 full-year oil production to land between 23,000 and 25,500 barrels per day. It said that total capex for the year is expected to be $125-150 million, in addition to $11 million in planned exploration drilling.
“Having completed our corporate restructuring in Q4, our ability to generate cash flow has shifted into high gear. We will deploy resources toward adding reserves to grow the ultimate potential and life of our assets, will continue pursuing value-accretive inorganic growth, and will continue providing direct shareholder returns by way of our ongoing share buyback program”, Guest said.
