With consummation of the Shell merger in sight, a review of BG's (BG.) full-year figures could be expected to read like a eulogy. Instead, they reflect the significant operational strides that BG has made since it was forced to declare 'force majeure' on its Egyptian liquefied natural gas (LNG) assets in early 2014. Since then, the group has ramped up gas volumes in Brazil despite industry disruption surrounding state-controlled energy giant Petrobras, while successfully moving into export mode from the giant Curtis LNG project in Queensland.
The end result is that BG achieved a 58 per cent increase in cargoes from its LNG shipping segment. And because the company is less reliant on oil revenues than many sector rivals, its performance in the face of plunging crude prices has held up reasonably well. The group was able to report pre-impairment earnings of 49.7¢ (FY2014: 118¢) a share – a creditable performance and a far cry from the uncertainty of two years ago.