Maurel & Prom's first quarter sales more than double on surging oil prices (updated)

Etablissements Maurel et Prom SA

16/04/2026 07:01

Adds analyst comment paragraph 4, share move paragraph 6

By Hugo Lhomedet

April 16 (Reuters) - French oil group Maurel & Prom's MAUP.PA first-quarter sales more than doubled to $163 million from $64 million a year earlier, driven by a 41% surge in its quarter-on-quarter average oil sale price to $90.8 per barrel, the company said on Thursday.

Its total working interest production rose 7% quarter-on-quarter to 37,444 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), with Gabon leading the recovery, up 14%.

M&P resumed drilling in Venezuela in early March after U.S. authorities
authorised
 the company to expand oil and gas operations, with production expected to rise in the second quarter.

"M&P delivered an excellent performance in Q1 2026, demonstrating its ability to absorb, at least in part, the sharp rises in crude oil prices seen recently," brokerage Portzamparc said in a note to investors.

Crude prices surged roughly 90% over the first quarter of 2026, with prices accelerating sharply from early March as the widening US-Israeli war with Iran stoked fears of prolonged disruption to oil shipments through the Strait of Hormuz.

Its shares gained 2.4% in early trading, after rising about 70% since the beginning of the year.

The group ended the quarter with net cash of $235 million and immediately available liquidity of $497 million.

Maurel & Prom shares tracked Brent's Q1 surge as Iran war choked Hormuz https://www.reuters.com/graphics/MAUREL%20PROM-RESULTS/lgvdganqnpo/chart.png

 (Reporting by Hugo Lhomedet in Gdansk; Editing by Matt Scuffham)

 ((hugo.lhomedet@thomsonreuters.com))