StatoilHydro income sinks along with costs

Helge Lund. Photo: Trond Isaksen / StatoilHydro

Norwegian oil company StatoilHydro said Tuesday it had notched a net second-quarter operating income of 24.3 billion kroner ($4.02 billion), or down about two-thirds from a year ago on oil prices which on average are down 40 percent since the same span a year ago.

In an apparent knock to journalists honing in on net income, the company announced its net income was “zero kroner”, down from some $19 billion ($3.14 billion) a year ago. Revenues were down 39 percent to 104.6 billion kroner ($17.3 billion).

In a statement, company boss Helge Lund — under some pressure to replace more reserves than last year — said 48 wells have already produced 30 discoveries in 2009, and 25 of those finds were offshore Norway.

But despite embarking on new projects at Tyrihans in Norway and Tahiti and Thunder Hawk in the Gulf of Mexico, Lund said “uncertainty remains high” in the world economy, suggesting project financial threats still lingered.

“We have the flexibility to adjust our activity level according to market developments,” Lund stated. Indeed, Lund, who once gave way to impulse and told an audience of a “cost tsunami” affecting operations, has trimmed operating expenses 25 percent with the help of a supply chain “adjusting” what they charge.

Source: Scandoil.com