Copenhagen - Danish shipping and oil conglomerate A P Moeller-Maersk said on Tuesday that its Brazilian oil and gas business would take a $1.7bn write down over disappointing drilling results and low oil prices.
The book value of three Brazilian blocks Maersk bought in 2011 from South Korea's SK Energy for $2.4bn had been written down to $600m, it said.
Another $100m was written down over items including the divestment of a small oil field.
"Appraisal drillings performed have come out at the low end of the original expectations and additional adverse impacts from increased development costs and lower oil price also must be expected,"it said.
The Copenhagen-based group however left its underlying profit forecast for the full year at $4.0bn.
"The SK Energy investment was made at a time when the outlook for the oil industry and oil prices were more positive than today," chief executive Nils S Andersen said in a statement.
The book value of three Brazilian blocks Maersk bought in 2011 from South Korea's SK Energy for $2.4bn had been written down to $600m, it said.
Another $100m was written down over items including the divestment of a small oil field.
"Appraisal drillings performed have come out at the low end of the original expectations and additional adverse impacts from increased development costs and lower oil price also must be expected,"it said.
The Copenhagen-based group however left its underlying profit forecast for the full year at $4.0bn.
"The SK Energy investment was made at a time when the outlook for the oil industry and oil prices were more positive than today," chief executive Nils S Andersen said in a statement.