EBITDA, excluding special items, amounted to HUF 201bn in 2015, a decrease of HUF 70bn compared to the base period. Performance was affected by:

(-) Lower average realised hydrocarbon prices due (from 62 USD/boe to 41USD/boe) to unfavourable changes in oil and gas prices (Brent prices decrease from 99USD/bbl to 52USD/bbl)
(-) Adverse regulatory changes in Croatia: the reduction of regulated gas price and an increase in the royalty rate from 5% to 10% (as of Q2 2014)
(+) A 20% decrease of the HUF versus the USD only partly mitigated the oil price decline.
(+) Group-level average direct production cost, excluding DD&A, was at USD 7.3 USD/boe, 7% below last year’s level. Operating expenditures in Upstream, including DD&A, but without special items totalled HUF 435bn, representing a HUF 34bn decrease versus 2014.
(+) Exploration expenses were lower by HUF 8bn due to the different work program in the international portfolio.
(+) Total production rose 7% year-on-year to 104 mboepd in 2015 supported by a 4 mboepd and a 2 mboepd increase in the UK and Croatia, respectively. Excluding inorganic elements, i.e. the sale of a 49% stake in the Russian Baitex and the two UK North Sea deals closed in 2014, production increased by 4 mboepd year-on-year as a result of higher contribution from Croatia (+2 mboepd) and the ramp-up of volumes in the Shaikan block in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq (+1 mboepd). Croatian crude oil and offshore gas production showed better performance due to the ongoing well optimization program (4P) and as a result of the new offshore well tie-ins on the Adriatic Sea (Izabela and IKA-SW) during 2014. In Hungary, the production remained almost flat in comparison to the base period, which was a significant achievement compared to earlier projections of up to 5% annual decline.