E&P production up 19% at 703 kboed; full year guidance moved to the upper half of 650 - 690 kboed range
Australia and Brazil average E&P production more than doubled to 80 kboed and 143 kboed, respectively
QCLNG pipeline disposal completed with gross proceeds of $4.6 billion; Train 2 start-up in July
Upstream EBITDA down 39% to $1 138 million; lower commodity prices partially offset by higher volumes
LNG Shipping & Marketing EBITDA down 66% to $263 million; lower margins partially offset by higher volumes
Business Performance EPS down 65% to 12.6 cents; Total EPS up 63% to 65.2 cents, reflecting profit on disposal of QCLNG pipeline
Interim dividend declared of 14.38 cents per share (9.22 pence per share)
Unconditional anti-trust approval of the Shell offer from Brazil in July; one of five pre-conditions to the offer
BG Group's Chief Executive, Helge Lund said:
"We achieved a number of key milestones during the quarter while continuing to deliver on our cost and efficiency programmes. Production reached record levels, more than doubling in both Australia and Brazil, and we now expect output for the year to be in the upper half of our forecast range. In Australia, we assumed operational control of the first train at QCLNG, which is now operating at plateau, and produced first LNG from the second train earlier this month. In Brazil, our share of production is now exceeding 150 kboed and the sixth FPSO was recently moored on location. Our LNG business has again produced a robust operating performance to deliver 58 cargoes in the quarter.
"This performance reflects our actions to stabilise and de-risk the business and our teams remain focused on delivering our 2015 commitments."
