Dragon Oil dividends up 50%

Dragon Oil, an explorer focused on Turkmenistan, said production growth in 2013 will be at the lower end of its 10 per cent to 15 per cent target.

The company raised its dividend by 50 per cent to 30 cents a share from 20 cents in 2011 and bought back $200 million (€149 million) in shares last year.

Output increases will return to about 15 per cent next year as it seeks to achieve 100,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day by 2015, it said today in a statement in London.

Profit slipped 7 per cent in 2012 to $600 million.

Dragon has added assets in Iraq and Tunisia to diversify from its main production base in Turkmenistan and plans to use five drilling rigs this year, up from three in 2012.

"We're on target to meet our production growth potential in 2015," chief executive officer Abdul Jaleel Al Khalifa said in a phone interview.

"Drilling is mostly focused on the second-half of this year and there will be more in 2014, but 2013 still has a lot of potential."

Shares rose 0.8 per cent to 587 pence in early day trade and the stock has gained 11 per cent in the past year.

The company will continue to seek acquisitions in Africa and Asia, Al Khalifa said, without naming specific countries.

Dividends will remain in the same range as 2012's in the coming years and may see some "modest growth," he added.

Bloomberg