3rd June, 2015
Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc on Tuesday restated its commitment to enhance shareholders value with strategic investment in natural gas and crude oil processing and development.
Austin Avuru, the company’s Chief Executive Officer, stated this at the company’s 2014 post-Annual General Meeting (AGM) news conference in Lagos.
Avuru said that the company had invested 300 million dollars in gas business, noting that the investment would boost its revenue and increase shareholders value in 2015 financial year.
He said that the company had made huge investment in oil and gas delivery, noting that the company would leverage on the expansion exercise to grow its revenue.
“We are now operating in mid stream by processing natural gas and crude oil development and delivery into the market,” Avuru said.
He added that the company successfully made efforts in its gas development strategy by expanding of its gas processing facility in Oben, Edo State.
The chief executive officer said that the new Oben gas processing plant would enable the company to increase supply to the domestic market.
“Seplat will take advantage of this to boost revenue from gas in 2015 and in the coming years,” he said.
According to him, the company lost some production days in the period due to interruptions on the pipelines.
He said that the company made good progress toward its long-term strategic aims, having grown its reserves base.
Avuru said that the company experienced some headwinds in 2014 that affected its growth and development.
“We saw headwinds to growth in the form of an abrupt decline in oil price during the second half of the year,” he stated.
Avuru said that the company would take a prudent approach in 2015 to reduce cost given the lower oil price environment.
He said that the company would also allocate capital selectively and prioritise investments that offer the highest returns.
Dr Ambrosie Orjiako, the company’s Chairman, said that decline in oil price presented many challenges for the exploration and production industry but with numerous opportunities.
Orjiako said that the company would take advantage of the opportunities to maximise efficiency and boost profitability.
He said Seplat would continue to monitor the oil price environment and challenge itself to respond by redoubling efforts to optimise operation in its current portfolio.
“We look forward to maintaining our position as one of the leading indigenous oil and gas operators in Nigeria in 2015,” Orjiako said.