Galp Energia expects to find a partner in Namibia

Galp Energia, a Portuguese company, raised its target profit for the year following a stronger-than-expected second quarter performance. It also said that it expected to find a new partner to help develop a promising offshore oil discovery.

In mid-day trading on Monday, shares were up by 2.5%.

Galp has raised its forecast for the adjusted earnings before taxes, depreciation, and amortization this year from 2.5 billion euros to over 2.7 billion dollars.

The increased forecast is due to the contributions of its gas-trading business, which are boosted by deliveries of cargoes of liquefied gas from Venture Global’s Calcasieu Pass Export Facility in Louisiana.

In a deal signed in 2018, Venture and Galp agreed to take or pay for 1 million metric tonnes of LNG per year.

Galp's second-quarter adjusted EBITDA was 880 million euros. This exceeded the 724 million euros consensus estimate provided by the company. Its second-quarter net profit adjusted rose 25% to reach 373 millions euros.

The company stated that lower taxes and increased oil production offset the lower crude prices as well as narrower margins in refining.

Galp, which is primarily involved in the extraction of crude oil from rich offshore fields, has said that it is confident of finding a partner for the development of the Mopane Field off the coast Namibia. The field was originally estimated to contain at least 10 billion barrels equivalent to oil and gas.

Galp has said that it is in discussions with potential partners about selling a part of its 80% share to an oil company who will operate the field.

The company stated that "Securing strong partnerships in Namibia... is an important milestone and the progress made so far strengthens our confidence" in the project's successful completion.

(source: Reuters)