Premier Oil’s profit after tax more than doubled in the first half of 2018 to $98.4 million helped by higher oil prices, it said on Thursday, reiterating that it expected output to reach 80,000-85,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day this year. EBITDA was up by around a fifth at $388.9 million, the British energy company said.

“At current oil prices (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) is expected to increase significantly in the second half of this year,” it said.

Premier kept its target to reduce its debt pile of around $2.65 billion by $300 million-$400 million by the end of 2018.

Looking for growth, Premier on Monday approved its Tolmount gas project in the British North Sea, which is expected to produce around 500 billion cubic feet (bcf) of gas from late 2020. Construction for the Tolmount platform is due to start in December, Premier said.

Source: www.irishtimes.com