BlueNord Announce Fourth Quarter 2023 Results and Distribution Policy for 2024 to 2026

OSLO, Norway, Feb. 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- BlueNord ASA ("BlueNord" or the "Company") today published its fourth quarter and full year of 2023 results. During the quarter, the Company delivered strong operational and financial performance. In addition, Tyra II has entered its final stages with first production expected in March 2024 and will mark a significant step-change in BlueNord's business. The Company has as a result today announced its Distribution Policy with a clear intention to maximise near-term capital returns while at the same time maintaining a conservative balance sheet.  

Highlights:

• Fourth quarter and full year net hydrocarbon production of 24.9 mboepd, in upper end of guidance 
• Revenues of USD 184 million for the quarter and USD 795 million for the full year
• Operating Cash Flow in the quarter of USD 104 million and USD 480 million for 2023 with net cash flow of USD 250 million
• Tyra Redevelopment Project entering its final stages with first gas expected in March 2024
• Announcement of Distribution Policy for 2024 to 2026 with 50 – 70% of operational cashflow intended to be returned to BlueNord's shareholders during the period

Operational

Net hydrocarbon production for the quarter was 24.9 mboepd. This is in upper end of the annual guidance range of 24.5 - 25.0 mboepd. Through proactive optimisation work, the natural decline has been mitigated since 2021 and BlueNord has delivered at or above its guidance for 12 consecutive quarters. In January 2024 the Company announced a Final Investment Decision ("FID") on the Harald East Middle Jurassic well which is planned to be spudded during this summer and with an expected gain from the well of up to 8 mmboe net to BlueNord of which ca 80% is gas.

Tyra II

The Tyra Redevelopment project made significant progress during the quarter and entered its final stages during the beginning of 2024. 

An extensive amount of work has been carried out on the leak testing of the facilities and the key focus before the first gas export remains to ensure that the safety and emergency systems are fully functional. First gas from Tyra II has been confirmed by the Operator TotalEnergies to remain expected on 31 March 2024, however with a potential to be reached earlier in the month. The ramp-up to maximum technical capacity is expected to take four months.

Distribution Policy

As a first tangible step towards delivering against the Company's commitment to material shareholder returns, BlueNord has announced a Distribution Policy for 2024 to 2026 with 50 – 70% of operational cashflow intended to be returned to the Company's shareholders. In connection with the announced Distribution Policy and the completion of Tyra II, BlueNord expects to re-set its capital structure in 2024, which will include an ongoing refinancing of the Company's Reserve Based Lending facility (the "RBL") and what BlueNord currently assumes will be a future repayment of BNOR14. Subject to the completion of Tyra II according to the current timeline, the first distribution is expected to be made by BlueNord in Q3 2024.

"We stand today on the cusp of a more than doubling of BlueNord's net production. This growth will be supported by the continued strong performance of our currently producing fields and we remain focused on maximising the value of the DUC. We are now in the final stages of the Tyra redevelopment project, which will deliver for us a step-change in not only production but also unit opex and emissions intensity. With Tyra first gas just around the corner, now is the right time for us to start looking beyond the redevelopment phase and be more explicit on how we intend to execute what is a core part of our story: the material return of capital to our shareholders. We believe the distribution policy we have announced today does just that, while at the same time allowing us to maintain a conservative capital structure," said Euan Shirlaw, Chief Executive Officer of BlueNord.

The report and investor presentation may be downloaded from the Company's website www.bluenord.com or www.newsweb.no.

The Company will host a webcast today at 10:00 CET.

To join webcast: https://channel.royalcast.com/hegnarmedia/#!/hegnarmedia/20240220_4

Contact:
Cathrine F. Torgersen, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer
Phone: +47 915 28 501
Email: [email protected]

This information is considered to be inside information pursuant to the EU Market Abuse Regulation, and is subject to the disclosure requirements pursuant to section 5-12 of the Norwegian Securities Trading Act. The stock exchange announcement was published by Cathrine Torgersen, Chief Corporate Affairs Officer, BlueNord ASA, at the date and time as set out above.

The following files are available for download: