By Adewale Sanyaolu

As renewable energy takes the centre stage to contribute about 20 per cent to the global energy mix by 2040,  Seplat Petroleum Development Company Plc at the weekend said it was looking towards a future in which it is much more involved in promoting low carbon environment in its operations.

Chairman of Seplat Board, Mr. Bryant Orjiako, stated this in his address to shareholders and other stakeholders during the 8th Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the company with shareholders, auditors, regulators, company directors, and the media, among other stakeholders joining physically and virtually.

To this end, he said the company would be adopting Seplat Energy as its new name following the passage of the resolution at its AGM.

According to Orjiako, it is the responsibility of the board to plan for the long-term sustainability of the company, as scenario analyses on Seplat’s assets have been conducted under different climate change and demand scenarios.

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“Such a transition will involve significant new innovations, technology, skills and relationships, compared to our existing expertise of subsurface exploration, drilling and hydrocarbon processing, but we are determined to be a major part of Nigeria’s future energy mix and help drive the country towards more sustainable energy generation,” the Seplat Chairman emphasized.

He explained the company’s cash position remained strong in the full-year of 2020 and the $318 million of cash it generated from operations was significantly more than the $150 million invested for future growth.

The company’s capital expenditure in the 2020 business year was higher than the $125 million spent in 2019, which demonstrates the company’s commitment to growth; as it voluntarily repaid $100 million of its Revolving Credit Facility and ended the year with $225 million in cash and net debt of $440 million. The company’s average working interest production was 51,183boepd, including 33,714bopd of liquids and 101MMscfd gas (17,469boepd).

He said: “Of this, our Eland assets contributed 8,855bopd, or 26 percent of total liquid volumes. Our financial performance enabled us to maintain our commitment to paying dividends. While other companies were cutting back or cancelling payments for the 2019 financial year, because of prevailing uncertainties, we honoured our commitment and paid a final dividend of US$0.05, for a total dividend of $0.10 for 2019.”