GHANA – US energy oil giant, Kosmos Energy has become the latest oil major to report losses in quarterly results owing to a difficult operating environment occasioned by the raging COVID-19 pandemic.
The company was however optimistic of a strong rebound owing to the robust measures it had put in place to sustain maximum productions and minimal costs.
The Dallas based company reported a second-quarter loss of US$199 million which is equivalent to a $0.49 per diluted share.
Businesswire in its report indicated that Kosmos’ losses when adjusted for certain items that impact the comparability of results amount to a net loss of $95 million or $0.23 per diluted share for the second quarter of 2020.
The oil major further reported that it posted a revenue of US$127.3 million in Q2 of 2020 while it production expense totaled to US$89 million.
Kosmos Energy revealed that it spent US$66 million in capital expenditure while General and administrative expenses costed it US$18 million.
The company’s losses are a testimony of the difficult economic environment that oil producing companies have been operating in since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Earlier this month, Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc, one of Nigeria’s indigenous independent oil companies, posted a loss of $128.3 million (N49.8bn) in the first half of this year.
Seplat’s dismall performance was replicated in Royal Dutch Shell which also reported a record US$18.4bn loss during the first half of the year.
Commenting on the company’s second quarter 2020 performance, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Andrew G. Inglis said: “Kosmos delivered strong operational performance in the second quarter, despite a challenging backdrop for our industry”
Inglis revealed that Kosmos’ production was in line with guidance and that the company was on track to deliver the cost reductions set out earlier in the year.
“At current oil prices, the company has reached a free cash flow inflection point and we expect to generate positive free cash flow through the second half of the year and into 2021,” Kosmos CEO said.
Kosmos noted that it will continue to mature exploration portfolio focusing on high return, fast payback opportunities with several proven basin, infrastructure-led exploration targets and a self-funded basin-opening exploration program expected in 2021.
For now, the company however stressed that its response towards the pandemic remains focused on safe and reliable operations.
“We are also working closely with the local communities in the countries we operate in around the world to fight the virus,” the company said in a statement.
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