MADRID: Spanish oil giant Repsol posted Thursday a jump in quarterly net profit, lifted by lower restructuring costs, recovering oil prices and the resumption of production in Libya.
The company said its net profit in the April-June period stood at 367 million euros ($428 million), a 79 percent increase over the same year-ago period, but below the 434 million predicted by analysts polled by financial data firm Factset.
Production decreased to 677,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day during the quarter, down from 697,000 a year ago due to asset sales in Indonesia and Trinidad and Tobago as well as the decommissioning of a field in Norway, Repsol said in a statement.
Profits at Repsol's upstream business, which includes extraction and production, rose to 115 million euros from 46 million euros in the second quarter of 2016.
The company said the rise was "mainly due to higher oil and gas prices, along with a more favourable production mix following the resumption of production in Libya and higher production in Brazil."
Libya has sought to boost crude exports after fighting among rival militias hobbled oil production following the overthrow in 2011 of dictator Moamer Kadhafi.
Repsol said the costs related to a restructuring fell to 34 million euros, from 316 million euros in the year-ago quarter.
The company unveiled an ambitious cost-cutting programme in October 2015 which involves slashing 1,500 jobs by 2018, a target the group has already reached, a Repsol spokesman told AFP.
Global oil prices surged above $50 a barrel for much of the early part of the year, after the OPEC cartel decided at the end of last year to reduce output over a six-month period to support prices.
They have since pared back after the cartel opted not to make further production cuts.
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