Royal Dutch Shell’s acquisition target BG Group beat its 2015 production target, it said on Wednesday, days before shareholder meetings to vote on a $47 billion deal that is expected to go through in coming weeks.
BG, which will report full-year results on February 5, said it expected 2015 production volumes to have hit 704,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), above its guidance of 680-700,000 boed, due to new fields that have come on stream in Australia, Brazil and Norway.
Shell is banking on access to new resource-rich areas, especially in Brazil, to make the BG acquisition worthwhile.
“The completion of the BG transaction, which we are expecting in a matter of weeks, will mark the start of a new chapter in Shell, to rejuvenate the company, and improve shareholder returns,” Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said in a statement.
Shell shareholders will vote on the deal on January 27, followed by a BG shareholder vote on January 28. The deal will result in the loss of 10,000 staff and contractor jobs in 2015-16, they said.
Many of Shell and BG’s large shareholders have voiced support for the deal but a slump in oil prices below $30 a barrel has raised concern Shell may be overpaying for the smaller rival.
The fall in oil prices meant BG booked a $700 million impairment charge in the fourth quarter related to fields in the North Sea and Tunisia, it said on Wednesday.
Shell said it expected full-year core earnings of $10.4-10.7 billion, slightly below a company- provided consensus of $10.8 billion.
It maintained its 2016 capital investment target of $33 billion and its 2016-18 asset sales projection of $30 billion, provided its acquisition of BG goes through.
Shell ‘A’ shares were down 3.4 per cent early on Wednesday and BG shares opened 2 per cent lower.
