After a stable start to FY22 in the first quarter, Mari Petroleum Limited (PSX: MARI) continued to sail through the second quarter with better revenues and volumes. The E&P Company’s gross sales that include oil and gas sales were seen climbing by 21 percent year-on-year in 2QFY22. This took the overall gross sales growth for 1HFY22 to 11.6 percent year-on-year. Net topline in 2QFY22 increased by 15 percent year-on-year due to growth in oil and gas production by around 7 percent and 5 percent year-on-year respectively; as well as currency depreciation. 1HFY22 sales were higher by 8 percent year-on-year where overall oil production surpassed 35 percent, while gas production was up by around 2-3 percent year-on-year. And then the topline also benefitted from higher oil prices during the period. However, Mari wellhead gas price was seen slipping. Improvement in Mari’s production volumes have been seen during FY21 that seems to have continued in FY22.
On the expenses side, the rise in royalty expense was offset by a decline in operating expenditure and exploration and prospecting expenditure. The decline in exploration cost came from lower cost of dry and abandoned wells during the 2QFY22 as well as 1HFY22 versus corresponding periods. Both rise in topline and lower exploration expenses benefit the bottomline of an E&P company. And in Mari’s case, this could have been more visible in the earnings growth, which was otherwise bogged down by significant share of loss from associates during 2QFY22 and 1HFY22 versus nil in the corresponding periods. Also higher taxation left the bottomline for Mari flat in 2QFY22 as well as in 1HFY22. Mari announced an interim cash dividend of PKR 62 per share in 2QFY22.
The fate of the E&P sector’s earning largely rests with not only higher international crude oil prices along with currency depreciation but also higher domestic oil and gas production. With reserves depleting and discoveries turning in smaller, the E&P sector is facing a challenge on the production front, which could be addressed with invigorating investor interest and technology transfer in the domestic upstream sector by reviewing and revising policies.
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