Top 100 CEO Interviews
Issue No. 40 - April/ /
Stuart: a smart drill team
Cooper Basin energy company Stuart Petroleum is riding high on world oil prices, using the opportunity for organic growth to explore overseas.
“Our recent drilling successes have grown our oil reserve base,” Stuart MD, Giustino Guglielmo says.
“This has in turn driven our increased production. Increased production at a time of record oil prices has translated into record revenues and margins.”
Successful exploration in the Cooper/Eromanga Basin boosted Stuart’s growth this year and high oil prices provide “significant” operating margins but
Tino says successes still have to amortise the inevitable ‘dry holes’.
“This year development success at the Padulla and Warrior oilfields led to uplifts in production and upgrades to reserves,” he says. “We have acquired other positions in the SA Cooper/Eromanga Basin, and the Gippsland Basin, identified the development opportunity of the Port Bonython Fuels project and are looking to establish a project in Angola, West Africa. These opportunities will drive future growth.”
A key growth driver, Tino says, is “a discipline to select only the best new exploration opportunities”.
“Using an analogy, if the growth drivers are the fuel, our engine is clearly people, process and technology,” he says.
“The Cooper/Eromanga Basin has been the company’s core area since inception. Production and cashflows generated from this area provide the funding for investment in growth projects. Over 9 million barrels of oil have been discovered in Stuart’s licence areas - Stuart’s share is 6 million barrels. “Stuart’s share of production to date has totalled almost 3 million barrels of oil.”
Tino says Stuart’s activities have been specifically planned.
“Some years ago, opportunities were identified to increase the size and materiality of exploration prospects. This plan has driven the company’s inv...
