Tullow Oil Shares Plunge as H1 Results Reveal Profit Slide Despite Jubilee Well Success

Tullow Oil (LON:TLW) shares tumbled more than 19% on Wednesday, trading around 11.5p, after the company reported a swing to loss in the first half of 2025, overshadowing operational progress at its flagship Jubilee field in Ghana.

The oil and gas producer posted a first-half loss after tax of $61 million, compared with a $196 million profit a year earlier. 

Revenue dropped to $524 million from $759 million, and gross profit more than halved to $218 million. Excluding Gabon, revenue fell to $411 million and the loss after tax widened to $80 million.

Tullow blamed lower oil prices and declining production. Group working interest output averaged 50,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, down from 63,700 boepd a year ago.

Interim CEO and CFO Richard Miller acknowledged the company’s “clear” strategic priorities, including refinancing its capital structure, optimising production, increasing reserves, and completing the sale of its Kenyan assets. 

“We have recommenced drilling and have successfully completed and brought onstream the first of two planned 2025 production wells at Jubilee, with better than expected net pay,” he said.

The firm recently completed the $300 million sale of its Gabon business and signed a memorandum of understanding in Ghana to extend key production licences to 2040.

Despite positive developments in Ghana, including a strengthened drilling programme and licence extensions expected to boost reserves, the company’s free cash flow remained negative at $188 million in the half. Net debt stood at $1.6 billion, with cash gearing of 1.9x.

Tullow reaffirmed its full-year production guidance of 40,000–45,000 boepd and a year-end net debt target of around $1.1 billion.