The Beach Energy Ltd (ASX: BPT) share price slumped 2% in early trade after a disappointing quarterly update from the oil and gas group. Beach Energy shares have since steadied slightly and are currently up 0.19% to $2.60 per share at the time of writing.
What's moving the Beach Energy share price today?
Beach Energy reported its second quarter FY20 update this morning. The oil and gas group produced 6.41 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe) for the period ended 31 December 2019. That represents a 2% decline on September quarter production and a 13.61% drop compared to the prior corresponding period (pcp).
Pro-forma production slumped 1.84% from last quarter and 2.14% from Q2 FY19 to 6.41 mmboe. Sales volumes fell 13.64% on pcp and 1.63% on September numbers to 6.65 mmboe. The Beach Energy share price was under pressure this morning, as investors digested the update.
However, higher oil prices boosted sales revenue 6% higher compared to September to $462 million for the period. Beach Energy's realised oil price is up 2.62% from last quarter and 16.12% from Q2 FY19.
The group's Western Flank production growth continued, with operated oil production reaching 22,700 barrels of oil per day. Beach also reported an 83% drilling success rate of the 53 wells drilled during the December 2019 quarter.
The group has spudded its first well in the Victorian Otway Basin at Black Watch-1. The ASX 200 oil and gas company is hoping to drive second-half growth with the expected Black Watch startup in Q4 FY 2020.
How have the group's shares performed recently?
Despite slumping lower this morning, the group's shares have been soaring higher in recent times.
The oil and gas group's shares hit a new record high just 9 days ago but has since fallen to $2.60 per share. That's up just 3% from where the share price started the year.
However, 2019 was a good one for Beach Energy shareholders who have seen gains of 58.84% in the last 12 months. The Beach Energy share price is now up over 600% since January 2016 in a real boom period for the ASX oil and gas company.
