.As Seplat gas sales hit $77m
By Omodele Adigun and Chinenye Anuforo
DESPITE a price depreciation suffered by 31 securities on the Lagos floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Thursday, the market was still able to claw back about N94billion to notch up its capitalisation.
At the end of trading for the day, both the market capitalisation and the All Share Index (ASI) rose by one per cent each to close at N9.336 trillion, up from the N9.242 trillion at which the market capitalisation opened yesterday. Its twin indicator, the ASI, inched up marginally by 273.41 to close at 27,183.64 points, from its previous day’s level of 26,910.23 points.
On price movement, only 23 securities made the gainers’ chart while 31 fell into the decliners’ group.
Meanwhile, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc has disclosed that revenue from its gas sales increased by 185 per cent, year-on-year, to $77 million.
The company also said the Oben gas plant phase II expansion was underway with additional processing modules ordered.
According to the Chair- man of the company, Ambrose Orjiako, who stated this Wednesday in Lagos at the post Annual General Meeting press briefing, once installed, the additional processing modules would take gross processing capacity to an expected minimum level of 525 MMscfd. He stated that Seplat, during the mid-year 2015, successfully completed and commissioned the Oben gas plant phase I expansion and this saw the company’s overall gross processing capacity double to 300 MMscfd.
Orjiako explained that Se- plat position as Nigeria’s leading independent exploration and production company has been reinforced in the past 12 months during which it delivered on corporate performance target despite the oil price volatility. “Our resilience is a testament to the quality of our business, our strategy, our management team and staff, and our adherence to strong corporate governance policies”,he said.
On the company’s performance, its CEO, Austin Avuru said, “In 2015, we delivered on what was in control, posting best in class reserves and production growth and taking our gas business across a transformational threshold with further expansion still to come. We acted quickly and decisively in response to the weak oil price environment, adjusting our work programme and cost structures. Against a bleak backdrop, we remained profitable with a strong balance sheet under- pinning us”
In respect of 2016 performance, Avuru added that the company’s, “2016 full year expectation has been impacted by the current shut-in of the Forcados terminal. However, we are much positioned to withstand such interruptions than in prior years. Our gas. Business takes on additional importance by providing a continuous revenue stream that is de-linked from the oil price.”