Tullow Oil reported a 41 per cent rise in pre-tax profit in 2002 to £22.5 million sterling following the acquisition of North Sea assets and surging oil prices.
The company said its West African assets in Ivory Coast also contributed to the growth, with production in the area achieving its target of 25,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the second quartter of the current year.
"This was a year of significant achievement and progress for Tullow. Two high profile development projects, in the UK and Cote d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), are now successfully on production," chairman Mr Pat Plunkett said.
The group, which also has interests in Gabon, Pakistan, Bangladesh, India, Romania and Algeria, is to resume dividend payment in 2003 with 1 pence per share.
It is currently looking at a number of potential acquisition opportunities in Northern Europe and West Africa using the £14.3 million proceeds from a recent debt placing and a new $100 million debt facility.