LONDON (Reuters) - North-Sea focused oil producer EnQuest (L:ENQ) increased oil output by 18 percent in the first half of the year, lifting core earnings.
The company's earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) rose 3.6 percent to $284 million (£168.7 million).
However, its profit before tax and net finance costs fell 11 percent to $149.4 million as the firm was hit by a tariff increase at the Sullom Voe oil terminal and acquisition costs for the Greater Kittiwake Area fields in the first quarter.
EnQuest, which specialises in maximising oil output from old fields, also expects its capital expenditure to be $1.2 billion this year - higher than the initially forecast $1 billion - including investments in new Malaysian and North Sea projects.
Its shares were down 3.4 percent at 0843 London time.
The oil firm produced 3,837 barrels of oil equivalent per day more than in the first half of 2013, thanks to higher output mainly from its North Sea fields. It also sold its crude at $110 per barrel, 1.2 percent higher than last year, helping to boost earnings.
EnQuest maintained its year-end average production target of 25,000-30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day.
The oil firm's core market is the North Sea but it has recently expanded its portfolio in the growing Malaysian market by buying a stake in ExxonMobil's Seligi oil field.
"We continue to look at acquisitions. We are trying to digest what we have got internationally, so we're more likely to look within the UK," Chief Executive Amjad Bseisu told Reuters.
EnQuest's high exposure to the North Sea makes it prone to tax changes in Britain and Scotland.
Bseisu said he was reassured by promises made by the Scottish government not to change the existing tax regime if it splits from the rest of the UK after next month's independence vote.
"In either scenario this is a critical industry that will get support from the government," he said.
(Reporting by Karolin Schaps; Editing by William Hardy and Pravin Char)