Bill Barrett Corporation (BBG), last week, reported its financial results for the third quarter 2014.
Management Comments:
Chief Executive Officer and President of the company, Mr. Scot Woodall commented: "We have completed our transition to an oil focused company and are well positioned to drive profitable growth going forward. During the third quarter, we achieved significant milestones that position our Company extremely well in today's operating environment. We have materially reduced our net debt position, increased our liquidity, simplified our portfolio into two core, high growth programs and sizably increased our profitability per barrel. We are driving cash flow growth from two development programs that offer reduced risk of execution compared to our earlier assessment activities.
"Regarding operations, I am very pleased with our team's operational execution in the Northeast Wattenberg. We have drilled 27 mid-length and extended reach lateral wells including nearly 250,000 feet of lateral drilling. We have completed 23 of these wells, including nearly 1,000 fracture stimulation stages that have been done timely and according to plan, with the four remaining wells waiting on completion operations. Further, positive initial results from our first four longer lateral wells continue to demonstrate the quality of our southern acreage position, which we increased by approximately 7,900 net acres during the quarter,ā he added.
The Operational Highlights:
Ā· Produced 2.7 million barrels of oil equivalent ("MMBoe"), including oil production of more than 1.1 million barrels ("MMBbls")
Ā· Grew Denver-Julesburg ("DJ") Basin production by 150% and increased total production from active programs by 32%, year-over-year
Ā· Completed portfolio transition through $757 million of asset sales and an acreage exchange to close the third quarter with a simplified, oil focused portfolio and a 20% increase in the key Northeast Wattenberg leasehold position
Ā· Initiated production from four mid-length (7,300' laterals) Northeast Wattenberg wells located in the southern acreage block. The wells averaged 548 barrels of oil equivalent per day ("Boe/d") per well over 30 days of production, meeting expectations
Ā· Drilled 4 mid-length and 23 extended reach lateral ("XRL") wells year-to-date in the Northeast Wattenberg area of the DJ Basin and placed 21 of those on line
Ā· Reduced net debt by $526 million and increased liquidity to $644 million
Ā· Generated discretionary cash flow of $70.1 million, or $1.46 per diluted common share
Other Highlights From The Quarter:
During the last quarter, the Company completed asset sale and exchange transactions with a stated value of $757 million. These transactions included the sale of the Gibson Gulch natural gas property in the Piceance Basin. The transaction also included an acquisition in the Northeast Wattenberg that added:
Ā· 7,856 net acres in the center of the Company's program, a 20% increase
Ā· 390 Boe/d of production
Ā· Revision of contractual terms in the area, providing the Company with more flexibility to maximize the value of its program
The total stated value of the transactions included $568 million in cash proceeds, $69 million estimated value for assets acquired in the Northeast Wattenberg that were exchanged for assets in the Powder River Basin, $36 million for the purchaser's assumption of a lease financing obligation and $84 million in future commitments assumed by the purchaser for firm gathering and transportation obligations.
All of the transactions closed in the third quarter and the adjusted cash proceeds received were $531 million. The Company applied the cash proceeds to pay off the outstanding balance under its revolving credit facility of $280 million and the remainder of the proceeds are retained in cash to be used for future investment into core drilling programs. It is the Company's strategy to hedge a portion of its production to reduce the risks associated with unpredictable future commodity prices and to provide predictability for a portion of cash flows in order to support the Company's capital expenditure program. The stock has been a high flyer in terms of performance. For a short term return on investment, Iād put my money on BBG.
