Transportadora De Gas De... (NYSE:TGS)
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Geophysical company TGS-Nopec (TGS.OS) Thursday said oil and gas sector sales activity has increased since the start of the year, and anticipates further opportunities.

"Last week's announcement of block awards in Norway's 20th (oil and gas) licensing round will have a positive impact in the near term," the company said in its first quarter results report. Norway's petroleum directorate Apr. 30 awarded 34 companies stakes in 21 new oil and gas production licenses.

Chief Executive of the Norway-based company Hank Hamilton, which carries out seismic surveys for oil and gas companies, said the first quarter was "extremely challenging for sales of geoscientific library data."

But he added: "We are clearly seeing increased sales activity in recent weeks and we continue to remain optimistic about longer-term fundamentals for our sector."

TGS retained its expectations for full year 2009 of multi-client library investments of $230-270 million, average pre-funding between 45-55% of investments and net revenues of $470-530 million.

In line with its lower revenue forecast for 2009 compared with 2008, the company said it has implemented a plan to reduce its operating expenses from the second quarter.

However, it added it will continue to evaluate opportunities to increase multi-client investments and grow market share, based on client interest and other economic indicators.

The company said it intends to sell its auction rate securities, or ARS, valued at "fair value" of $46.5 million "given the right opportunities" although it noted it has sufficient cash and financial capacity to finance operations without a sale.

TGS-Nopec reported a sharp fall in 2008 first quarter net income to $13.2 million from $29.0 million, due to a 31% decline in revenues. Its order backlog stood at $132 million at the end of the first quarter, up 8% on the year.

At 0810 GMT, the company traded up NOK3.80 or 7.10% to NOK57.10, comfortably beating a 2.67% rise on Oslo's OBX index.

Company Web site: www.tgsnopec.com

-By Elizabeth Adams, Dow Jones Newswires; +44 (0) 20 7842 9386; elizabeth.adams@dowjones.com