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ublicly listed energy company PT Medco Energi Internasional (MEDC) expects that its overseas oil operations, including those in Tunisia and Libya, will be able to boost the company'€™s sluggish earnings.

According to its financial statement, Medco posted US$198.83 million in gross profits as of September this year, a 25.34 percent decrease from $249.23 million in the same period last year.

The company'€™s net profits decreased by 5.26 percent to $9.5 million from January to September this year, compared to $10 million in the same period last year.

'€œThis performance result has yet to show a positive contribution from our asset in Tunisia, which will start operation in October this year,'€ Medco president director and CEO Lukman Mahfoedz said in a press statement on Wednesday.

He added that the company, along with Chinook Energy Inc., has completed the acquisition process for a 100 percent stake in Storm Ventures International (Barbados) Ltd. (SVI) from Storm Ventures International (BVI) Ltd., a subsidiary of Toronto-listed Chinook.

SVI owns four exploration blocks, two development blocks and two producing blocks with working contracts of either 30 or 50 years in Tunisia. The $114.03 million acquisition now makes Medco the shareholder of a company owning eight participation interests in eight oil and gas blocks in the country.

Lukman said previously that the acquisition marked his company'€™s comeback in Tunisia. In 2011, Medco decided to divest its stake in the Anaguid area in Tunisia.

Lukman said the company had also obtained government approval for the commercial operation of the company'€™s oil fields in Libya, which would add to its reserve of proven and presumed oil and gas worth 74 million barrels of oil equivalent (MMBOE).

As of September this year, Medco posted $551.94 million in total sales and other operating revenues, decreased by 11.07 percent from $613.07 million in the same period last year.

The oil and gas exploration and production sector worth $518 million contributed 94 percent to the total sales, with a total volume of 41 million barrels of oil and gas.

'€œWe have also found new reserves of oil and gas at Sumur Hijau-2 in the South Sumatra Block, Indonesia as well as the P2 and 02 wells in Area 47, Libya,'€ Lukman said.

Global oil prices reached $106.30 per barrel in the third quarter of this year, declining from $108.50 per barrel in the same period last year, the company said.

Meanwhile, average gas prices reached $5.60 per million British thermal units (MMBTU) as of September this year, increased by 9 percent from $5.10 per MMBTU between January and September last year.

The company also managed to reduce its operational costs by 10 percent to $61 million in the third quarter of this year from $68 million in the period of January-September last year.

At the domestic level, the company has signed gas sales and purchase agreements (PJBG) with state electricity company PT PLN and private electricity company PT Meppo-Gen to supply gas for power plants in North Kalimantan and South Sumatra, Lukman said.

Lukman said further that the company has currently reached 87 percent completion of the construction of a liquid natural gas facility development for Donggi Senoro project in Central Sulawesi. The facility is expected to reach mechanical completion early next year, while it is currently in the commissioning process.

'€œAfter the Senoro project is completed, our business will grow faster as other main projects will follow afterwards, such as Block A in Aceh, Simenggaris in East Kalimantan, as well as Libya and Tunisia in 2017 and 2019 respectively,'€ he said.

Shares of MEDC were closed at Rp 3,870 ($0.32) apiece on Wednesday, increased by 0.26 percent from Rp 3,860 a day earlier. (gda)