Lower gas prices have cut into Tullow Oil’s operating profit for the first half of 2007, with the £110-million ($222-million) result a 30-percent slide over the year-ago period despite record production.

Interim profit before tax was also down 56 percent to £66.6 million ($134.4 million) ahead of significant exploration success in Ghana and “billion-barrel” production in Uganda.

“Our exploration programme in Ghana not only yielded a major discovery, but also de-risked the Group’s extensive acreage position in the region,” company chief exec, Aiden Heavey, said in a statement.

He said Tullow’s reserve base could double “in coming years” with 120 licenses after the acquisition of North African player, Hardman Resources. “Tullow now has a far greater resource base and upside potential than at any time in the Group’s history,” the statement said.

Group production is seen averaging 75,000 barrels of equivalent per day for the year.