PERTH (miningweekly.com) – ASX-listed Beach Energy on Thursday announced that it would reduce its capital expenditure (capex) during the second half of the 2015 financial year by around 20%, or by about A$55-million.

The company told shareholders that it had undertaken a detailed review of its capex programme as a result of the current lower oil prices, and that it had  identified certain projects that would be deferred, given the constraints of existing contracts and already-committed expenditure.

The initial reduction in expenditure would focus primarily on the South Australian Cooper Basin Joint Venture (SACBJV) and the South West Queensland Joint Venture (SWQJV) gas projects, with certain drilling and infrastructure projects also deferred.

The company noted that the final exploration spend for the SACBJV and SWQJV projects would be dependent on JV partner Santos, which itself continued to flag capex cuts across its operations.

On the receipt of final cost estimations from Santos, Beach would provide a full guidance for its 2015 capital cost estimations.

In the meantime, the oil and gas major on Thursday increased its full-year production guidance from between 8.6-million and 9.4-million barrels of oil equivalent, to between 8.9-million and 9.4-million barrels of oil equivalent.

During the quarter ended December, Beach produced some 2.4-million barrels of oil equivalent, which was in line with the prior quarter. Interim production reached 4.8-million barrels of oil.

Sales volumes for the quarter were down by 1%, to 2.9-million barrels of oil equivalent, while first-half sales reached a record 5.7-million barrels of oil. Revenue for the quarter was down 17% on the previous quarter, owing to the lower oil price, which was partially offset by the weaker Australian dollar.

Revenue for the year-to-date had been recorded at A$426.8-million.