By Mathias de Rozario
(Reuters) -French oil group Maurel & Prom reported a 25% drop in its half-year core profit on Tuesday, hit by falling crude oil prices.
Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization fell to $140 million in the six-month period, from $186 million a year earlier.
The group was hit by a 16% drop in the average sale price for oil products to $70.90 per barrel, after it warned in mid-June that weak prices would weigh on its quarterly revenue, echoing comments from TotalEnergies, BP and Shell.
“Despite the sharp fall in crude oil prices, M&P has once again demonstrated the strength of its business model and its ability to generate value,” CEO Olivier de Langavant said in a press release, however.
Crude oil prices fell in the second quarter after the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries and allies (OPEC+) in April began to unwind its self-imposed production cuts of 2.17 million barrels per day.
The organization agreed on Sunday to raise oil production by 547,000 barrels per day for September, the latest in a series of accelerated output hikes to regain market share, among concerns over potential supply disruptions linked to Russia.
M&P added that after the expiration on May 27 of its licence from the U.S. Treasury and State departments to export oil crude from Venezuela, it has adjusted its operations which are now limited to maintenance work while production continues.
It said it remains actively in contact with the U.S. authorities.
On July 30, U.S. peer Chevron has been granted a restricted U.S. license, three sources close to the decision said, adding that no money from oil proceeds can be transferred in any way to the administration of Venezuelan President Nicolas Maduro.
Others foreign partners of Venezuela’s state-owned oil company PDVSA, including Maurel et Prom are awaiting U.S. authorizations, to allow them to operate in the sanctioned country, according to company sources.
(Reporting by Mathias de Rozario in Gdansk, editing by Matt Scuffham and Milla Nissi-Prussak)
