Higher oil prices and lower operating costs helped push profits at Dragon Oil ahead by 73 per cent last year, the company said yesterday.

The oil and gas exploration and production group reported pre-tax profits of $49.7 million, up from $28.9 million in 2003.

It also signalled that it was considering an equity fundraising to fund ongoing development at its Cheleken project, off the coast of Turkmenistan.

Turnover rose by 18 per cent to $97.1 million as better oil prices helped offset lower volumes sold.Dragon said its daily production reached 20,532 barrels per day (bpd) in the second half, achieving production targets for 2004. Total field production from the area was 4.9 million barrels compared to 4.8 million in 2003.

Average gross production for the year was 13,264 bpd with 8,630 attributable to Dragon. This compares to total gross production of 13,217 bpd in 2003, of which 8,385 was attributable to Dragon.

The company said it was looking forward to achieving further production growth in 2005.