Aug-29-2013
Press Releases
2013 Press Releases
Crown Point Announces Financial and Operating Results for the Three and Six Months Ended June 30, 2013
August 29, 2013
TSX-V: CWV: Crown Point Energy Inc. (“Crown Point” or the “Company”) today announces its operating and financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2013. Copies of the Company’s June 30, 2013 unaudited condensed interim consolidated financial statements and the related Management’s Discussion and Analysis (“MD&A”) for the period ended June 30, 2013 have been filed with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and will be made available under the Company’s profile at www.sedar.com and on the Company’s website at www.crownpointenergy.com. All amounts are in Canadian ‘$’ unless otherwise stated.
HIGHLIGHTS OF THE FIRST HALF 2013
•Approval Tierra del Fuego Ten Year Concession Extensions to November 2026
•Ten Well Initial Tierra del Fuego Drilling Program Confirmed – negotiations for a drilling rig contract for Tierra del Fuego are at an advanced stage.
•Argentina New Gas $7.50/mcf Incentive Program Participation submitted by Crown Point for its Tierra del Fuego Concessions – the program is designed to stimulate exploration and development for Natural Gas by providing cash incentives for incremental gas.
•Cerro de Los Leones Oil Exploration Drilling Targets Selected – two separate structures have been identified on the recent 3-D seismic program. These are targeting multiple conventional formations which are productive immediately to the south of Cerro de Los Leones. The drilling of these wells will provide information to assist Crown Point on assessing the reservoir quality of the Vaca Muerta unconventional oil shale potential of Cerro de Los Leones.
FINANCIAL AND OPERATING RESULTS
Results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2013 include:
•Average Sales Volumes: 1,800 BOEPD and 1,896 BOEPD for the three month and six month periods ended June 30, 2013, as compared to 331 BOEPD and 333 BOEPD for the comparative three and six month periods ended May 31, 2012(1) and 2,053 BOEPD for the previous four month period ended December 31, 2012.
•Operating Netback per BOE: $13.38 and $14.60 for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2013, as compared to $29.33 and $32.99 for the comparative three and six month periods ended May 31, 2012(1) and $15.65 for the previous four month period ended December 31, 2012. As Tierra del Fuego volumes, which include a large percentage of natural gas, are only included in June 2013 periods and December 2012 period and earn a lower operating netback than oil sales volumes from the El Valle area, the operating netback is higher for the May 2012 periods.
•Net Loss: $11.56 million and $11.78 million for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2013, as compared to $1.96 million and $2.53 million for the comparative three and six month periods ended May 31, 2012 and $0.81 million for the previous four month period ended December 31, 2012. The increase in the net loss for the June 2013 periods is due to $10.07 of impairment recognized in the second quarter related to accounts receivable ($0.52 million), exploration and evaluation assets ($1.63 million) and property and equipment ($7.92 million).
•Funds Flow From (Used By) Operations: $0.83 million and $3.5 million for the three and six month periods ended June 30, 2013, as compared to $(1.15) million and $(1.05) million for the comparative three and six month periods ended May 31, 2012(1) and $2.57 million for the previous four month period ended December 31, 2012.
|
Three months ended |
Six months ended |
Four months ended |
|||
|
June 30 2013 |
May 31 2012 |
June 30 2013 |
May 31 2012 |
December 2012 |
|
|
Total sales volumes (BOE) |
163,799 |
30,486 |
343,260 |
61,001 |
250,411 |
|
Average daily sales volumes (BOEPD) |
1,800 |
331 |
1,896 |
333 |
2,053 |
|
Oil and gas revenue |
$ 5,394,411 |
$ 1,937,752 |
$ 11,846,140 |
$ 3,979,653 |
$ 8,206,914 |
|
Royalties |
(968,148) |
(480,204) |
(2,218,308) |
(960,521) |
(1,460,984) |
|
Operating costs |
(2,234,594) |
(563,306) |
(4,616,969) |
(1,006,576) |
(2,825,897) |
|
Operating netback |
$ 2,191,669 |
$ 894,242 |
$ 5,010,863 |
$ 2,012,556 |
$ 3,920,033 |
|
Per BOE |
|||||
|
Oil and gas revenue |
$ 32.93 |
$ 63.56 |
$ 34.51 |
$ 65.24 |
$ 32.77 |
|
Royalties |
(5.91) |
(15.75) |
(6.46) |
(15.75) |
(5.83) |
|
Operating costs |
(13.64) |
(18.48) |
(13.45) |
(16.50) |
(11.29) |
|
Operating netback |
$ 13.38 |
$ 29.33 |
$ 14.60 |
$ 32.99 |
$ 15.65 |
(1) Financial and operating results for the three month period ended May 31, 2012 do not include results from the Tierra del Fuego area as the Company’s interests in the area were not acquired until May 28, 2012.
OPERATIONS
TIERRA DEL FUEGO, ARGENTINA
The Company’s 25.78% working interest in the Tierra del Fuego (“TDF“) area of Argentina covers approximately 489,000 acres (126,000 net acres) in the Austral Basin and includes the Las Violetas, Angostura Sur and Rio Cullen Exploitation Concessions (the “TDF Concessions“). In July of this year, Crown Point and its partners received all necessary governmental approvals for a 10 year extension of the TDF Concessions until November 2026.
Crown Point’s TDF Concessions are high quality, natural gas weighted assets possessing the capability to deliver increased levels of production and reserves in an expected increasing natural gas price market.
Operations
Crown Point and it partners have defined the first 10 drilling locations on the Las Violetas Exploitation Concession. Eight of the proposed wells are development locations in the Las Flamencos pool. These locations are proximal to existing infrastructure and management believes that these wells could be completed and placed on production in a relatively short time frame. Two exploration wells are planned for the Las Violetas Exploitation Concession and are located on undrilled fault bounded blocks on trend with producing wells. Successful drilling results on these exploration wells would prove up additional development drilling locations.
Negotiations to obtain a long term contract for a drilling rig for TDF are in an advanced stage.
New Gas Program – Incentive Payments for Incremental Gas Production
On August 15, 2013 Crown Point submitted to the Argentine Government its official proposal for participation in the New Gas Program. The New Gas Program is designed to encourage and compensate gas producers by paying cash compensation to companies who increase production above a corporate base production rate (“BPR“) provided that their natural gas production remains at or above a negotiated committed level of production. The BPR will be declined annually on January 1 by 7% as set by the government.
The BPR for a producer is assessed as the average corporate daily production rate during December 2012. The compensation for any succeeding month is calculated by multiplying the BPR by the average price received by the producer for its gas in 2012 and adding to that the volume of gas delivered in excess of the BPR multiplied by $7.50/mcf. If the calculated theoretical revenue is higher than the sales receipts for that month, the government will pay to the producer the difference. If the calculated theoretical revenue is less than sales receipts for that month, the producer will receive nothing and is not penalized.
To participate in the New Gas Program, a producer has to commit to supplying gas to the market over the five year term of the program. Should the producer fail in any 3 month period to supply its committed volumes, it is required to buy gas in the open market to cover the shortfall. It is possible that the purchase price of the shortfall volumes could be higher than the price received under the New Gas Program.
It is important to recognize that gas sales and volumes in Argentina are normalized to MMBtu, where 1 MMBtu = 1 mcf (@9300kCal). For the purposes of the New Gas Program, all volumes and prices are normalized to this reference. In the case of Crown Point’s TDF production, the heat content is higher than this reference by 8% to 10%. Accordingly, our physical sales volumes are increased by 8% to 10% when comparing against BPR and committed sales volumes.
To comply with the framework of the New Gas Program, Crown Point has offered a committed level of production which will increase gradually over the five year term of the agreement. As noted above, our TDF production volumes, when adjusted for calorific content, are increased by 8% to 10%. This calorific adjustment gives the Company a larger production volume as compared to its non-calorific adjusted commitment level of production.
As a result of the decision by Crown Point and its partners to participate in the New Gas Program, the Company is reviewing its cash flow projections over the next three years with a view to increase capital spending to include additional drilling, 3D seismic acquisition and facility enhancements designed to accelerate growth in production and reserves.
CERRO DE LOS LEONES, NEUQUEN BASIN, ARGENTINA
The Company’s 100% interest in the Cerro de Los Leones Exploration Concession covers approximately 306,646 acres in the Mendoza portion of the Neuquén Basin.
EXPLORATION, DEVELOPMENT AND DRILLING PLANS
Crown Point has identified and selected drilling co-ordinates on two separate 3-D seismically defined structural features on its Cerro de Los Leones Exploration Concession. These two structural features are the northward extensions of producing structural trends on the adjacent concessions to the south of Cerro de Los Leones.
Geologic and reservoir modeling work is underway to determine the resource potential of both structures in conjunction with well bore design, costing and economic evaluation.
SAN JORGE BASIN, ARGENTINA
The Company has identified certain business risks, such as increasing operational costs and steeper natural declines than anticipated in some producing wells and the curtailment of drilling plans relating to its El Valle property, as indicators of impairment. As a result, the Company performed an impairment test on the El Valle cash-generating unit as at June 30, 2013 and recognized $9.22million of impairment comprised of $7.92 million on property and equipment and $1.30 million on exploration and evaluation assets. At Cañadón Ramirez the Company does not intend to drill any wells as the economics of the area have rendered it uneconomic.
At El Valle, the Company has identified additional potential drilling locations, subject to further economic analysis and is reviewing secondary recovery options for reservoir pressure maintenance and improved reservoir performance. Water flood secondary recovery schemes are used throughout the San Jorge Basin and consistently demonstrate improved rates of production and higher ultimate recoveries of oil in place from equivalent reservoirs.
For inquiries please contact:
Murray McCartney
President & CEO
Ph: (403) 232-1150
Crown Point Energy Inc.
mmccartney@crownpointenergy.com
Arthur J.G. Madden
Vice-President & CFO
Ph: (403) 232-1150
Crown Point Energy Inc.
amadden@crownpointenergy.com
Brian J. Moss
Executive Vice-President & COO
Ph: (403) 232-1150
Crown Point Energy Inc.
bmoss@crownpointenergy.com
Website: www.crownpointenergy.com
About Crown Point
Crown Point Energy Inc. is an international oil and gas exploration and development company headquartered in Calgary, Canada, incorporated in Canada, trading on the TSX Venture Exchange and operating in South America. Crown Point’s exploration and development activities are focused in the Golfo San Jorge, Neuquén and Austral basins in Argentina. Crown Point has a strategy that focuses on establishing a portfolio of producing properties, plus production enhancement and exploration opportunities to provide a basis for future growth.
Advisory
Certain Oil and Gas Disclosures: Barrels of oil equivalent (“BOE”) may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A BOE conversion ratio of six thousand cubic feet (6 Mcf) to one barrel (1 bbl) is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. In addition, given that the value ratio based on the current price of crude oil in Argentina as compared to the current price of natural gas in Argentina is significantly different from the energy equivalency of 6:1, utilizing a conversion on a 6:1 basis may be misleading as an indication of value. “BOEPD” means barrels of oil equivalent per day. “MMBtu” means million British thermal units. “Mcf” means thousand cubic feet. “2D” means two dimensional. “3D” means three dimensional.
Non-IFRS Measures: This press release discloses “funds flow from operations” and “operating netbacks”, which do not have standardized meanings under International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS“) and as such may not be comparable with the calculation of similar measures used by other entities. Funds flow from operations should not be considered an alternative to or more meaningful than, cash flow from operating activities as determined in accordance with IFRS as an indicator of the Company’s performance. Management uses funds flow from operations to analyze operating performance and considers funds flow from operations to be a key measure as it demonstrates the Company’s ability to generate cash necessary to fund future capital investment. A reconciliation of funds flow from operations to cash flow from operating activities is presented in the MD&A. Operating netbacks are calculated on a per unit basis as oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids revenues less royalties, transportation and operating costs. Management believes this measure is a useful supplemental measures of the Company’s profitability relative to commodity prices.
Forward looking information: Certain information set forth in this document, including: (i) with respect to our TDF Concessions: our belief that our interests in the area possess the capability of delivering increased levels of production and reserves in an expected increasing natural gas price market; our expectations about timing of obtaining a drilling rig for the drilling program in the TDF area; our intent to review our cash flow projections over the next three years with a view to increase capital spending in the TDF area to include additional drilling, 3D seismic acquisition and facility enhancements designed to accelerate growth in production and reserves ;and the expected details of the targets, number of wells and timing of our drilling program in the TDF area; (ii) with respect to our Cerro de Los Leones Exploration Concession: our expectation that the drilling of the currently planned wells will provide information to assist Crown Point on assessing the reservoir quality of the Vaca Muerta unconventional oil shale potential of Cerro de Los Leones; and (iii) with respect to our El Valle Exploitation Concession: our intention to undertake a waterflood secondary recovery scheme to increase reservoir pressure and the ultimate reserve recovery of the pool; and our belief that a waterflood secondary recovery scheme can improve rates of production and result in higher ultimate recoveries of oil in place; is considered forward-looking information, and necessarily involve risks and uncertainties, certain of which are beyond Crown Point’s control. Such risks include but are not limited to: risks associated with oil and gas exploration, development, exploitation, production, marketing and transportation; risks associated with operating in Argentina, including risks of changing government regulations (including the adoption of, amendments to, or the cancellation of government incentive programs or other laws and regulations relating to commodity prices, taxation, currency controls and export restrictions, in each case that may adversely impact Crown Point), expropriation/nationalization of assets, price controls on commodity prices, inability to enforce contracts in certain circumstances, the potential for a sovereign debt default, and other economic and political risks; loss of markets and other economic and industry conditions; volatility of commodity prices; currency fluctuations; imprecision of reserve estimates; environmental risks; competition from other producers; inability to retain drilling services; incorrect assessment of value of acquisitions and failure to realize the benefits therefrom; delays resulting from or inability to obtain required regulatory approvals; the lack of availability of qualified personnel or management; stock market volatility and ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources; and economic or industry condition changes. Actual results, performance or achievements could differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, theforward-looking information and, accordingly, no assurance can be given that any events anticipated by the forward-looking information will transpire or occur, or if any of them do, what benefits that Crown Point will derive therefrom. In addition, the information relating to reserves is deemed to beforward-looking information, as such information involves the implied assessment, based on certain estimates and assumptions, that the reserves described can be economically produced in the future. With respect to forward-looking information contained herein, the Company has made assumptions regarding: the impact of increasing competition; the general stability of the economic and political environment in which the Company operates; the timely receipt of any required regulatory approvals; the ability of the Company to obtain qualified staff, equipment and services in a timely and cost efficient manner; drilling results; the costs of obtaining equipment and personnel to complete the Company’s capital expenditure program; the ability of the operator of the projects which the Company has an interest in to operate the field in a safe, efficient and effective manner; the ability of the Company to obtain financing on acceptable terms when and if needed; field production rates and decline rates; the ability to replace and expand oil and natural gas reserves through acquisition, development and exploration activities; the timing and costs of pipeline, storage and facility construction and expansion and the ability of the Company to secure adequate product transportation; future oil and natural gas prices; currency, exchange and interest rates; the regulatory framework regarding royalties, commodity price controls, import/export matters, taxes and environmental matters in Argentina; and the ability of the Company to successfully market its oil and natural gas products. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect Crown Point are included in reports on file with Canadian securities regulatory authorities, including under the heading “Risk Factors” in the Company’s annual information form, and may be accessed through the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com). Furthermore, the forward-looking information contained in this document are made as of the date of this document, and Crown Point does not undertake any obligation to update publicly or to revise any of the included forward looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as may be expressly required by applicable securities law.
Neither TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this news release.