Dublin-listed Dragon Oil today posted a 34 per cent increase in half-year profits on the back of record crude oil prices.
The Dubai-based petroleum producer with operations in Turkmenistan said net income advanced to $167 million, or 32.3 cents a share, from 124 million, or 24.3 cents, a year earlier.
That missed analyst estimates of $182 million at Goodbody Stockbrokers and beat estimates of $165 million at Renaissance Capital.
Oil producers have benefited from rising prices for crude, which climbed above $140 a barrel for the first time in June after almost doubling from a year earlier.
Sales rose 63 per cent to $373.5 million, while average gross production advanced 36 per cent to 38,482 barrels of oil a day, according to the statement.
Dragon booked a one-time expense of $91 million on a hedge, which capped its oil sale price at $102 a barrel.
The company is developing the Cheleken Contract Area in the Caspian Sea off Turkmenistan, a Central Asian nation that's gradually opening up to foreign investment. Dragon signed a production-sharing contract with the Turkmen government in 2000.
At the end of December, Dragon bought stakes in several fields in Yemen from Virgin Resources Limited to expand its production base.
Bloomberg