While the UK-listed player’s overall revenue rose 1% year on year to $4.9 billion, a 7% drop in income in the upstream segment to $1.43 billion led to the group reporting 5% lower operating profit of $2.15 billion.
The company was left with a net profit of $1.18 billion versus $1.23 billion a year earlier – though this was still up on its own forecast of $1.1 billion.
While BG Group benefited from higher realised gas prices during the period, this was offset by a 3% decrease in production volumes to 59.3 million barrels of oil equivalent – partly due to the earlier shut-in of the Elgin-Franklin gas condensate field off the UK – and fewer liquefied natural gas shipments.
The Total-operated Elgin-Franklin platform restarted production in March after being shut in due to a gas leak but partner BG Group said it is not expected to recover to pre-shutdown levels until 2015 as new infill wells will need to be drilled.
The company did though bring on stream the Everest East expansion project off the UK.
Its first-quarter output was further fuelled by start-up of the second floating production, storage and offloading vessel, Cidade de Sao Paulo, at the Sapinhoa field off Brazil on time and on budget, with output currently running at around 25,000 boepd.
This took total output from two FPSOs in the Santos basin to 140,000 boepd last month, with the Cidade de Sao Vicente floater currently carrying out an extended well test at the Sapinhoa North prospect that is expected to produce 15,000 barrels per day of oil over the six-month period of the test.
A third FPSO is on track for start-up at the Lula field in the second quarter, with two more such units – out of a total of 15 floaters being built – destined for the Sapinhoa and Iracema fields and due for start-up in 2014.
Elsewhere, BG Group has recently delivered success with drillstem tests at its Jodari and Mzia gas discoveries in Block 1 off Tanzania and is currently drilling an exploration well with drillship Deepsea Metro 1 at the Ngisi-1 prospect in Block 4, with a subsequent appraisal planned at the Chewa find.
Chief executive Chris Finlayson said, despite the results dip, the company had “delivered on key milestones for the first quarter, while also making progress with our project execution programme”.
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