Emerald Oil Announces Huge 2014 Production

March 11, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

Emerald Oil announced its 2014 fourth quarter and year end financial results on Tuesday including huge increases for production and sales.

Fourth quarter production increased 7% over Q3 to average 4,101 BOEPD, with increases of 71% from the same time period in 2013. Throughout 2014, production increased 110% compared to 2013.

Emerald leadership attributes their strong position to the swift spending cuts made during the oil price freefall of the fourth quarter. Theses cuts and more streamlining will help them ride out a continued low price environment.

“McAndrew Rudisill, Emerald’s Chief Executive Officer, stated, “2014 was a year of tremendous reserve and production growth at Emerald Oil. We have made great strides in streamlining the efficiency of our entire Bakken production base through the diligent efforts of our operations team. We feel comfortable managing the current oil price environment for a prolonged period with our low cost balance sheet and substantial liquidity.”

Revenues from sales of oil and natural gas for the fourth quarter were $22.1 million compared to $17.9 million in 2013. As of December 31, 2014, Emerald had total proved reserves of approximately 26.3 MMBoe, all of which were located in the Williston Basin.

Emerald’s operations primarily targets the Middle Bakken and Three Forks formations for its development drilling. The company holds approximately 125,000 net acres in the Williston Basin in North Dakota and Montana.

Abraxas Petroleum Releases Q4 Results

March 10, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

Abraxas Petroleum announced a record 2014 during its earnings call on March 4th and reported on their 2015 spending plan.

2014 Highlights include oil production that averaged 5,720 Boepd and $63.3 million in net income. Abraxas’ fourth quarter net income was $30.1 million, which is up over the same period in 2013 when they reported $27.0 million. The company’s adjusted net income for Q4 was $6.1 million, compared to $1.4 million in 2013.

Abraxas plans to cut its capital spending to $54 million for 2015, compared with $193 million in 2014. The company further expects a 26% growth in production to 7100 barrels a day as it completes the nine wells it drilled during 2014.

“Bob Watson, Abraxas’ President and CEO commented, “After a tremendous 2014 for Abraxas, we now enter a very tumultuous 2015 from a commodity price perspective. We remain focused on preserving our abundant liquidity and strong balance sheet, which we endeavor to use to our advantage in a distressed environment. We are also blessed with an attractive asset base that presents numerous opportunities to expand our capital program should commodity prices and service costs dictate. We look forward to updating the market on the results of some of these efforts in the near future.”

Abraxas’ operations in North Dakota spans has roughly 5,000 net acres in the Bakken, mostly in McKenzie County. The company announced that it recently drilled four wells to about 21,000 feet each on their Jore Federal West pad in record time and at a low cost. The company will defer completion on these wells as they wait for better weather and for production costs to decrease.

Find out more at abraxaspetroleum.com

Read the full call transcript at seekingalpha.com

Oasis Petroleum Announces 35% Growth

March 4, 2015 Elizabeth Alford

Oasis Petroleum announced 2014 results and rolled out updated projections for the new year.

The company increased its net income by 122% from $228.0 million in 2013 to $506.9 million in 2014 and ended the the year with $45.8 million of cash and cash equivalents.

Other 2014 highlights include:

Increased average daily production 35% from 2013 to 45,656 Boepd
Q4 2014 average daily production of 50,143 Boepd
Completed and placed on production 195 gross operated wells during 2014
Increased total estimated net proved oil and natural gas reserves by 24%

Bakken Highlights

The following table describes the Company's producing Bakken and TFS wells by project area in the Williston Basin as of December 31, 2014.

“Thomas B. Nusz, Oasis’ Chairman and CEO commented, “Capitalizing on our premier position in the Williston Basin, we have grown volumes by over 35% in 2014, including production in the fourth quarter of 2014 of 50,143 Boepd. While we are excited about the strong growth and the potential of our significant inventory position, we have turned our attention to managing the business in light of the current challenging market environment.”

2015 Projections

Citing lower commodity prices, Oasis Petroleum announced it will be reducing its 2015 capital spending by 12% over 2014 and expects the total to reach $705 million. Additionally, the company expects to complete 79 gross (63.3 net) operated wells and 2.6 net non-operated wells in 2015.

QEP Bakken Production Increases in Q4 2013, Despite Adverse Weather Conditions

February 26, 2014 Kirk Eggleston

QEP Resources Bakken Three Forks Acreage Map

QEP Resources grew its Bakken and Three Forks production in the fourth-quarter, despite adverse weather conditions, achieving net average production of 27,700 boe/d (96% liquids). That's a 30% increase over third-quarter 2013 production, which was 21,300 boe/d.

The company brought 26 operated wells to sales in the fourth-quarter, with good initial production rates. 17 of those wells were in the South Antelope, and their average 24-hour initial production (IP) rate was ~3,025 boe/d. The other nine wells were in the Fort Berthold Reservation, with an average 24-hour initial production (IP) rate of 1,850 boe/d.

In 2013, QEP also saw the value of its South Antelope property rise to $2.8 billion from a $1.14 billion investment. Production from this asset grew throughout the year.

“QEP Energy’s capital investment program resulted in a 62% increase in crude oil production over last year driven by a 133% increase in production from the Williston Basin. Crude oil volumes represented 20% of QEP Energy’s production in 2013, a substantial increase from 12% in 2012 and 8% in 2011,” said Chuck Stanley, CEO, QEP Resources.”

QEP Outside Operated Bakken and Three Forks Wells

QEP Resources also participated in 22 outside-operated Bakken or Three Forks wells that were completed and turned to sales during the fourth-quarter. These wells had an average working interest of 7%.

At the end of 2013, QEP had interests in 31 outside-operated wells in the process of being drilled, with an average working interest of 10%. Five outside-operated wells were waiting to be completed with an average working interest of 5%.

QEP Bakken Rigs Running at End of Year

At the end of the fourth-quarter, eight rigs were operating in the Williston Basin. Six of those rigs were located in the South Antelope, and two were in the Fort Berthold Reservation. QEP also had eight operated wells waiting on completion, with an average working interest of 94%.