Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on September 24, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 21, 2026
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EnQuest maintains its production guidance despite a first-half loss, facing high UK taxes and lower output. The company plans to invest in Southeast Asia.
(Reuters) -North Sea-focused oil producer EnQuest stuck to its full-year production forecast on Wednesday encouraged by its operational strength, despite reporting a first-half post-tax loss due to lower output and higher taxes.
The company, like its peers, is grappling with Britain's extended windfall tax on oil and gas producers, which raised the headline tax rate to 78%, one of the highest globally, inviting criticism from several industry players.
"We remain very clear that we are committed to continued investment in our UK business," EnQuest CEO Amjad Bseisu said in a statement.
"Our near-term pivot to investment outside of the UK underlines, however, how successive UK governments have made the UK North Sea globally uncompetitive through fiscal policy."
The company is investing in gas exploration and production in Southeast Asia, alongside major energy firms, to meet the growing power demand.
EnQuest posted a loss after tax of $173.5 million, for the six months ended June 30, compared with a $30.3 million profit last year, after booking a $123.9 million non-cash adjustment related to the higher levies.
Still, analysts at Peel Hunt and J.P.Morgan were upbeat about the company's first-half performance and highlighted its robust and strong operations.
First-half production stood at 38,257 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), excluding Vietnam, lower than last year's 42,771 boepd, following a third-party driven outage at EnQuest's Magnus oil field for nearly five weeks.
(Reporting by Ankita Bora in Bengaluru; Editing by Rashmi Aich)
A post-tax loss is a financial loss reported after accounting for taxes, indicating that a company's expenses exceeded its revenues after tax obligations.
Gas exploration is the process of searching for natural gas deposits, often involving geological surveys and drilling to assess potential reserves.
Operational strength refers to a company's ability to efficiently manage its operations, maintain productivity, and effectively utilize resources.
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