Finance
Harbour Energy lifts 2025 free cash flow forecast after Wintershall Dea deal
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on August 7, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Global Banking and Finance Review
Company
Published by Global Banking and Finance Review
Posted on August 7, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 22, 2026
Harbour Energy raises its 2025 free cash flow forecast to $1 billion, driven by the Wintershall Dea acquisition, enhancing its production capabilities.
By Ankita Bora
(Reuters) -North Sea-focused Harbour Energy raised its annual free cash flow and production forecast on Thursday, bolstered by robust production as it integrates Wintershall Dea assets, sending its shares sharply higher.
Harbour Energy, the largest British North Sea oil and gas producer, completed its acquisition of the Wintershall Dea assets last year and said on Thursday the deal had driven a "step change in the scale, resilience, and longevity" of its portfolio.
The company, which was created in 2021 through the merger of Chrysaor and Premier Oil, now expects to record $1 billion in free cash flow in 2025, up from a previous forecast of $900 million.
It has been shifting capital away from the UK and focusing on international assets for future investments, after Britain's tax changes in late 2024 removed incentives for reinvestment.
"(The UK) remains a challenging environment for us ... so long as the fiscal regime is as it is in the country, investment here just finds itself hard to compete with the opportunities we have in other countries," said CEO Linda Z. Cook.
Harbour announced plans in May to cut 250 jobs, around a quarter of the workforce, at its Aberdeen-based UK unit.
It launched a $100 million share buyback on Thursday, taking total shareholder distributions for the year to $555 million.
Shares in the London-listed firm were up 12.7% at 230.3 pence by 0938 GMT.
Harbour also lifted the lower end of its full-year production outlook to a range of 460,000 to 475,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), from 455,000 to 475,000 boepd earlier.
Production in the first half of 2025 tripled year on year to 488,000 boepd, supported by new wells in the UK, Norway and Argentina.
(Reporting by Ankita Bora and Yamini Kalia in Bengaluru; Editing by Janane Venkatraman and Joe Bavier)
Harbour Energy now expects to record $1 billion in free cash flow in 2025, an increase from the previous forecast of $900 million.
The company is moving capital away from the UK due to a challenging investment environment created by tax changes that removed incentives for reinvestment.
Harbour Energy launched a $100 million share buyback program, bringing total shareholder distributions for the year to $555 million.
Harbour lifted the lower end of its full-year production outlook to a range of 460,000 to 475,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Harbour announced plans to cut 250 jobs, which is around a quarter of its workforce at its Aberdeen-based UK unit.
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