OKLAHOMA CITY, Nov. 13, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Chaparral Energy, Inc. (NYSE: CHAP) today announced its third quarter 2018 financial and operational results with the filing of its form 10-Q.
Chaparral Energy is an independent oil and natural gas exploration and production company headquartered in Oklahoma City. Founded in 1988, Chaparral is a pure-play operator focused in Oklahoma’s highly economic STACK Play, where it has approximately 127,000 net acres primarily in Kingfisher, Canadian and Garfield counties. The company has approximately 265,000 net surface acres in the Mid-Continent region.
Third Quarter Highlights and Recent Key Items
- Grew STACK production 53% on a year-over-year basis and 19% on a quarter-over-quarter basis to 15,663 barrels of oil equivalent per day (Boe/d)
- Increased full year STACK production guidance by 7% to 14,250 – 14,750 Boe/d
- Reported a net loss of $12.1 million, driven by a $16.8 million non-cash loss associated with commodity derivatives
- Generated adjusted EBITDA, as defined below, of $34.3 million, an increase of 27% on a quarter-over-quarter basis
- Decreased STACK lease operating expense per barrel of oil equivalent (LOE/Boe) by 18% on a quarter-over-quarter basis to $4.34
- Reduced full year total company LOE/Boe guidance by 6% to $7.25 – $7.65
- Uplisted to the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE), under the new symbol “CHAP”
“Chaparral continued to deliver strong operational and financial results in the third quarter,” said Chief Executive Officer Earl Reynolds. “Our STACK wells on average continued to outperform type curve expectations and drove considerable STACK production growth of almost 20% quarter-over-quarter. In addition, we saw extremely encouraging early results from our initial Canadian County Merge Miss partial section spacing test. The three-well Denali pad, which came online in August, had an average 30-day peak initial production rate of more than 1,200 Boe/d per well, with 75% liquids. Based on these results we believe our Canadian County Merge Miss acreage could have as many as eight to nine wells per section. We will continue to conduct more spacing tests, which in the near-term includes a Kingfisher County partial section, five-well test scheduled to come online during the fourth quarter and an 11-well spacing test in Canadian County. Our 11-well spacing test, which includes a nine-well Merge Miss full section test and a two-well Woodford partial section test, is slated to come online in early 2019. As a result of our consistent STACK drilling success and our strong balance sheet, we added a fourth drilling rig in October and increased our full year guidance for both total company and STACK production.”
“In addition, we also saw continued improvement in our STACK LOE/Boe during the quarter, with costs below $4.50 per barrel,” said Reynolds. “We expect to sustain these lower LOE costs moving forward and, as such, are lowering our full year total company LOE/Boe guidance to a range of $7.25 – $7.65. For the quarter, we also saw significant growth in our adjusted EBITDA, which was driven by our production growth, cost management and higher realized pricing. Adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter rose 27% quarter-over-quarter to $34.3 million, and we now have delivered $90.6 million of adjusted EBITDA year-to-date.”
“Finally, the company achieved a significant milestone during the early part of the third quarter with the uplisting of our common stock in July from the OTCQB market to the NYSE. This move provides us access to a much larger potential investor base and should ultimately generate more liquidity for our stock as we work to create long-term value for our stockholders,” concluded Reynolds.
Operational Update — STACK Production Grows More than 50% Year-over-Year
Chaparral grew its STACK production to 15,663 Boe/d in the third quarter. This marks a 53% year-over-year increase compared to 10,261 Boe/d in the third quarter of 2017 and a 19% quarter-over-quarter increase compared to 13,198 Boe/d during the second quarter of 2018.
Excluding production from divested EOR assets, the company’s third quarter 2018 average total production grew by 11% on a year-over-year basis to 21,342 Boe/d, of which 61% was liquids and 39% natural gas. The company’s drilling program for the first three quarters was focused on strategic development of its Canadian and Garfield County acreage, which continue to deliver strong internal rates-of-return ranging from 55% to more than 100%.
Overall during the quarter, Chaparral operated three total drilling rigs in Canadian, Kingfisher and Garfield counties. The company brought 12 new gross STACK wells on production, four in Canadian County and eight in Garfield County, five of which were part of its joint venture drilling program with Bayou City Energy.
The company continues to see strong results within the Merge Miss in Canadian County and from its Osage and Meramec program in Garfield County. In the third quarter, Chaparral brought online its first Canadian County Merge Miss partial section spacing test. The three-well Denali pad has exceeded expectations, producing at an average three-phase, 30-day initial production (IP) rate of more than 1,200 Boe/d per well, of which 75% was liquids. In Garfield County, recent notable wells include the Pear 2106, which produced at a three-phase, 30-day IP rate of 1,351 Boe/d, of which 87% was liquids and the Platter 2007, a joint venture well, which recorded 729 Boe/d on the same basis, of which 83% was liquids.
Overall, results from the company’s Meramec and Osage programs continue to exceed type curve expectations. The company currently believes approximately 50% of its Garfield County position has been de-risked in at least two distinct drillable targets — the Meramec and Osage. In addition, Chaparral believes it has effectively de-risked more than 80% of its Canadian County Merge Miss position.
The company continues to optimize the development of its STACK acreage and plans to test different pad sizes and spacing throughout 2019. As a result of Chaparral’s strategic well optimization and spacing test activities, the company expects some variability in its quarter-over-quarter STACK production growth profile moving forward.
Chaparral’s total capital expenditures during the third quarter were $74 million. This includes $54.5 million associated with STACK drilling and completions activity and $15.2 million spent on additional STACK acreage acquisitions, of which $4.4 million was associated with non-cash acreage trades as part of the company’s ongoing strategy to block up its core STACK acreage.
Financial Summary — Adjusted EBITDA Drives Strong Third Quarter
Chaparral recorded a net loss of $12.1 million, or 27 cents per share, during the third quarter of 2018. This loss was driven by a $16.8 million non-cash loss associated with commodity derivatives. Chaparral’s adjusted EBITDA for the third quarter was $34.3 million, an increase of 27% compared to the second quarter. On a year-over-year basis, adjusted EBITDA, as well as the company’s production, revenues and expenses mentioned in this release, were impacted by the sale of its EOR assets in November 2017, as well as other non-core asset sales.
Total gross commodity sales for the quarter were $70.1 million, which represents a 13% quarter-over-quarter increase compared to $62.3 million in the second quarter and an 8% year-over-year decrease. This year-over-year decline was driven by a decrease in total company production associated with prior asset sales.
Chaparral’s average realized price, excluding derivative settlements, for crude oil increased to $70.14 per barrel in the third quarter of 2018. This represented a 6% quarter-over-quarter increase, compared to $66.28 per barrel in the second quarter of 2018. It also marked a 50% increase compared to $46.64 per barrel in the third quarter of 2017. The company’s realized natural gas liquids price during the third quarter was $25.93 per barrel, which was up 6% compared to $24.39 per barrel in the second quarter of this year. On a year-over-year basis, Chaparral’s natural gas liquids price increased by 16% from $22.40 per barrel during the third quarter of 2017. The company’s realized natural gas price was up slightly on a quarter-over-quarter basis from $2.01 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) in the second quarter to $2.08 per Mcf in the third quarter. On a year-over-year basis, natural gas prices were down 18% from $2.53 per Mcf in the third quarter of 2017.
Total company LOE for the third quarter of 2018 was $12.5 million, or $6.36 per Boe, which was down 24% on a quarter-over-quarter basis compared to $8.36 in the second quarter. Chaparral’s STACK LOE/Boe for the third quarter was $4.34, which was down 18% compared to the second quarter. The company’s cost reductions associated with LOE were primarily driven by increased production, the sale of higher cost, non-core properties and sustainable saltwater disposal cost reductions. Chaparral has lowered its full year total company LOE/Boe from $7.60 – $8.20 to $7.25 – $7.65.
Chaparral’s net general and administrative (G&A) expenses were $9.0 million, or $4.59 per Boe, which was virtually flat compared to $4.56 per Boe, or $8.2 million in the second quarter of 2018. Adjusted for non-cash compensation, the company’s net cash G&A expense per Boe in the third quarter was $3.42, which was down 6% from the previous quarter. Chaparral previously lowered its 2018 full year G&A/Boe guidance to $3.50 – $4.00 in the second quarter.
Production taxes for the third quarter of 2018 were $4.0 million, or $2.05 per Boe, which was higher on a quarter-over-quarter basis, compared to $2.8 million, or $1.54 per Boe, during the second quarter. This increase was driven by an increase in Oklahoma production taxes, which went into effect in the third quarter of 2018.
Divestitures
During the third quarter Chaparral realized $29.7 million in proceeds from non-core assets sales. This included the successful monetization of a portion of its saltwater disposal infrastructure for $8.3 million. It also closed on various other non-core assets in the third quarter resulting in cash proceeds of $21.4 million, which brings the company’s year-to-date total cash proceeds to $36.3 million and accounts for approximately 1.4 MBoe/d of associated net production. Chaparral continues to forecast additional non-core asset sales in the fourth quarter and anticipates proceeds to be in line with its previously stated 2018 asset sale guidance of $50 – 60 million.
Balance Sheet and Liquidity
As of September 30, 2018, Chaparral had approximately $49 million in cash and cash equivalents and had no borrowings under its $265 million borrowing base. The company’s balance sheet remains strong with no significant debt maturities due until 2022.
NYSE Listing
Chaparral uplisted its Class A common stock from the OTCQB market to the NYSE in July when it began trading under the ticker symbol “CHAP.”
Chaparral November 2018 Investor Presentation
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