The company said the reduction was due to a natural decline of its old fields and the planned maintenance shut-downs of the central production facility and the Agogo Production Facility in February.
Total oil and gas production in the first quarter was 2.21 million barrels of oil equivalent compared to 1.95 million barrels for the fourth quarter last year while gross production from the PNG oil fields averaged 40,958 barrels of oil per day, some 12% lower than in the fourth quarter of 2007.
First quarter sales revenue was US$160.3 million and was based on total oil sales of 1.66 million barrels. This revenue figure was a 30.24% drop from the previous quarter of $US229.8 million.
The average oil price realised for the quarter was $US93.82 per barrel with PNG crude fetching $US94.12 per barrel.
Oil Search shares have recently risen over $A5 a share on the back of strong oil prices, the sale of its Middle Eastern and North African assets and recent progress with the PNG LNG Project, with PNG Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare announcing an agreement with on the projects fiscal terms.
Oil Search has a 34.1% stake in the PNG LNG project, with ExxonMobil at 41.6%, Santos 17.7%, AGL Energy 3.6%, and Nippon Oil 1.8%. Landowner interests hold the remaining 1.2%.
