据路透社墨尔本报道，澳大利亚第三大独立石油和天然气生产商Beach能源周三表示，该公司在2019财年结束时的现金储备比预期的要多，并计划加大钻探支出，同时密切关注收购。

在资产出售以及扩大投资组合带来的强劲现金流的帮助下，Beach能源仅在18个月内就偿还了收购Lattice能源的16亿澳元（合11亿美元）债务，这比原计划早了两年。

该公司总经理Matt Kay表示，截至6月30日，公司的净现金为1.72亿澳元，未提取的信贷设施有6.22亿澳元，这笔钱可用于更多的勘探和生产钻探。

该公司在季度生产报告中表示，年产量增长55%，至2940万桶石油当量，略高于公司预测的最高值。

Kay在接受路透社采访时说：“如果你看一看我们的业务表现，我们全年的钻井成功率仍然高达84%。所以，你会看到我们对业务进行了绝对的再投资。”

该公司2019财年的资本支出为4.47亿澳元，略低于其预测。

分析师表示，为了保持其强劲的增长态势，另一项收购将对Beach能源极具吸引。

伍德·麦肯齐分析师David Low表示：“如果是这样，我们认为收购具有液化天然气或东海岸天然气市场的资产将是该名单上的优先事项。”

Kay不排除进一步收购，他称：“从收购的角度来看，我们目前肯定没有处于绝望的境地，我们总是关注机遇。”

今年截止到目前，该公司股价一直是澳大利亚能源生产商中表现最好的，上涨了52%，使Beach能源在6月份跃入了澳大利亚证券交易所100强的指数中。

詹晓晶摘自路透社

原文如下：

Australia's cashed up Beach Energy to step up drilling spend

Beach Energy, Australia’s third-largest independent oil and gas producer, ended the 2019 financial year more cashed up than expected and plans to step up spending on drilling while keeping an eye out for acquisitions, its boss said on Wednesday.

Beach paid off debt on its A$1.6 billion ($1.1 billion) acquisition of Lattice Energy within just 18 months, two years earlier than originally planned, with the help of an asset sale and strong cash flow from its expanded portfolio.

The company ended the year to June 30 with net cash of A$172 million, and with undrawn credit facilities has a warchest of A$622 million, which Managing Director Matt Kay said could be spent on more exploration and production drilling.

Annual output rose 55% to 29.4 million barrels of oil equivalent (mmboe), just beating the top end of Beach’s forecast, the company said in its quarterly production report.

“If you look at the way our business is performing, we’re still getting an 84 percent success rate on our drilling across the year. So you will see us absolutely reinvest in our business,” Kay told Reuters in an interview.

Capital spending for FY2019 came in at A$447 million, just below its forecast.

Analysts said another acquisition would be tempting for Beach, to keep up its strong growth profile.

“If so, we believe acquiring assets with exposure to LNG or the east coast gas market would be high on the list,” Wood Mackenzie analyst David Low said.

Kay didn’t rule out further acquisitions.

“We’re certainly not in any desperation position from an acquisition perspective at the moment, but we always have an eye out for opportunities,” he said.

However its shares have been the best performer among Australia’s energy producers so far this year, up 52%, catapulting Beach into the Australian stock exchange’s top 100 index in June.