Record gas prices last summer contributed to a 51 per cent surge in revenues recorded by Vermilion Energy from its Corrib Gas field operation to 324.34 million Canadian dollars (€222.2 million) in 2022.
The company benefited from a 61 per cent increase in the price of gas across 2022 as a whole, its annual report discloses. However, by the fourth quarter of last year Vermilion’s Corrib revenues were 41 per cent down on the same quarter in 2021 as gas prices softened.
The report says production at Corrib increased by 1 per cent in the fourth quarter compared to the previous quarter “as the Corrib facility experienced strong operational run time during the quarter”.
European natural gas prices reached an all-time high in late August on concerns regarding Europe’s ability to meet winter gas demand. Relatively warm weather and full storage have seen prices weaken since then.
The gas produced from Corrib represents 100 per cent of Ireland’s domestic production of natural gas.
The hike in revenues at Corrib Gas contributed to Vermilion’s overall revenues increasing by 67 per cent or C$1.39 billion to C$3.47 billion last year.
Canada-based Vermilion has a 20 per cent stake in the Corrib project. In November 2021 it agreed to acquire the 36.5 per cent share of fellow investor Equinor. That acquisition is now expected to close at the end of March.
The report records that Vermilion’s profits were hit by a $223 million full-year impact of temporary windfall taxes, “approved by the European Union on September 30th, 2022, and applied retroactively for 2022 in the countries where we operate”.
