Page 4 - GLNG Week 20 2022

GLNG COMMENTARY GLNG

Inpex raises profit forecast

COMMMENTARY JAPAN’S Inpex, like other oil and gas compa- Revised outlook
nies around the world, is reaping the benefits of Inpex previously projected in February that
higher commodity prices. This week the com- its net profit for the year would amount to
pany – Japan’s largest exploration and produc- JPY250bn ($1.9bn), so the upward revision to a
tion firm – raised its net profit forecast for the record high of JPY300bn represents an increase
whole year to a record JPY300bn ($2.3bn). This of 20%.
was attributed to higher oil price expectations The company revised its assumption of the
and a lower yen against the US dollar, as well as average Brent oil price to $85 per barrel from $75
building on a strong first-quarter performance. per barrel previously and the yen’s rate against
Inpex’s net profit for the first quarter also the dollar to JPY120 from JPY110. Indeed, the
reached a record high, coming in at JPY94.1bn yen has been trading above 120 to the dollar
($728mn) and representing a 146% year-on-year since late March and is closer to 130 to the dollar
increase from JPY38.2bn ($295mn). as of this week, while Brent prices are above $110
The results came as a background to the com- per barrel, so further revisions may be required
pany moving forward with various exploration later in the year. And Inpex’s managing executive
plans. In a separate announcement earlier in director, Daisuke Yamada, told a news confer-
May, Inpex said it had kicked off exploratory ence that the latest revised outlook was based
drilling operations offshore the Japanese prefec- on “conservative assumptions” for oil prices and
tures of Shimane and Yamaguchi on May 5. The foreign exchange.
project involves conducting exploratory drill- For the first six months of the year, Inpex
ing surveys, which will be followed by detailed has revised its net profit forecast by 33.3%, from
analysis and evaluation of the obtained data to JPY150bn ($1.2bn) to JPY200bn ($1.5bn). The
determine the extent of oil and gas deposits at fact that this makes up two-thirds of its profit
the drilling locations. forecast for the year suggests that the company
Separately, an Inpex subsidiary submitted an anticipates prices and the trends driving them
environment plan to Australian regulators on cooling off in the second half of 2022. It remains
May 4 for the drilling of two exploration wells to be seen how this expectation will play out and
in the Browse Basin offshore Western Australia. whether projections will soon need to be revised
At the same time as Inpex advances these pro- again.
jects and benefits from current trends, though, it
has certain headwinds to contend with, such as Headwinds
its Russian investments, which it appears com- While it finds itself buoyed by current trends,
mitted to for now. though, Inpex also has certain challenges to

P4 www. NEWSBASE .com Week 20 20•May•2022