CS - Canadian oil & gas industry battening down the hatches - April 2020The entire oil and gas industry in Canada is fighting to stay afloat amid a perfect storm brought on by the coronavirus pandemic and the SaudiRussian price war, and most companies are pulling back wherever they can to protect their assets and balance sheets. Equinor and Husky Energy are suspending the Bay du Nord and West White Rose projects off Newfoundland and Labrador (PG.1). Canadian Natural Resources Ltd. (PG.3), Husky (PG.15), MEG Energy (PG.5), Crescent Point Energy (PG.3) and Baytex...
Apr 01, 2020
CS - Baytex suspends Canadian development & cuts capex 50% - April 2020Baytex Energy Corp. is suspending all drilling operations in Canada in response to plummeting commodity prices and expects to forgo 43 heavy oil wells and 151 light oil wells this year. The company is also slowing down development in the US Eagle Ford and plans to bring onstream 16-18 wells this year compared with 22 in its initial 2020 guidance. Baytex is cutting its exploration and development budget to $260-290 million, a 50% reduction at midpoint from the previous guidance of $500-575...
Apr 01, 2020
CS - People & Companies - March 10, 2020ARC Resources CEO Myron Stadnyk has stepped down but will continue to serve as president and director until his retirement on April 30. CFO Terry Anderson replaced Stadnyk as the new CEO, effective Feb. 20. Anderson was CFO for five years and has been with ARC for 20 years. Baytex Energy Corp. appointed Don Hrap to its board of directors. Hrap has had a 35-year career in the upstream sector. He was ConocoPhillips’ president of Lower 48 operations from 2009 to 2018. Before Conoco, he...
Mar 11, 2020
CS - Baytex beats 2019 production guidance with $552MM capex - January 2020Baytex Energy Corp. ended the year with average production of 97,680 boe/d, beating its guidance of 96,000-97,000 boe/d, and also stayed at the low end of its $550-600 million capex guidance with total spending of $552 million. The company’s strong production and capital efficiencies helped it generate $329 million of free cash flow and reduce net debt 17%, or $394 million, to $1.87 billion. Q4 production was slightly lower than the average at 96,360 boe/d (83% oil and NGLs), likely because...
Jan 29, 2020
CS - Canadian O&G starts 2020 with hangover from 2019 - January 2020To put it mildly, 2019 was a challenging year for the Canadian oil and gas sector. Mandatory production curtailments in Alberta, supply bottlenecks, heavy regulations and a virtual standstill in M&A, among other factors, left most industry participants happy to leave the year behind. The degree to which these challenges are either remedied or surmounted will largely determine the narrative of the Canadian oil patch in 2020. There were only $6.1 billion in upstream deals with disclosed...
Jan 08, 2020
PS - People & Companies - January 6, 2020Baytex Energy announced that Mark Bly has been appointed chairman. Bly joined the board in 2017 and last March was appointed lead independent director and chair of the human resources and compensation committee. Bly is an independent businessman with over 35 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, primarily with BP. Chaparral Energy announced that its board has appointed Charles “Chuck” Duginski as president and CEO. Duginski succeeds K. Earl Reynolds in those roles as...
Jan 06, 2020
PS- People & Companies - October 21, 2019Antero Resources announced that Vicky Sutil and Tom Tyree have been appointed to its board as a Class III director and Class I director, respectively, effective as of Oct. 7. Sutil has an extensive background in the oil and gas industry, previously with California Resources Corp. while serving as VP of commercial analysis for CRC Marketing, Inc. from 2014 to 2016. Tyree is currently the chairman of Northwoods Energy LLC, an upstream oil and gas company he founded in January 2018....
Oct 21, 2019
CS - Midstream lifts Canadian energy sector on its shoulders - October 2019As the page turns from Q3 to Q4, the Canadian oil patch continues to confront challenges ranging from heavy regulation and supply constraints at home to the impact of market volatility and fallout of the attacks in Saudi Arabia in the broader global arena (PG.16). Operators are assessing their financial and operational strategies within this context and remaining hesitant to engage in dealmaking until more stability is realized. This M&A reticence was particularly pronounced in Q3, when...
Oct 02, 2019
CS - People & Companies - October 2, 2019Baytex Energy announced that EVP and COO Jason Jaskela and exploration VP Jonathan Grimwood are no longer with the company. The operating business units will now directly report to president and CEO Ed LaFehr. The company also announced that Jennifer Maki joined the board in early September as a member of the audit and human resources and compensation committees.ExxonMobil affiliate Imperial Oil Ltd. has appointed B.W. “Brad” Carson as chairman, president and CEO. He became president on...
Oct 02, 2019
PS - People & Companies - September 30, 2019Alta Mesa Resources’ board of directors approved a number of leadership changes, concurrent with its voluntary bankruptcy filing. Jim Hackett, who recently held the title of Interim CEO, has resumed his former role as executive chairman and will remain involved with the board and management team in the restructuring process. Mark Castiglione, who was previously interim EVP for strategy and corporate development, has been promoted to CEO. Randy Limbacher, formerly interim president, has accepted...
Sep 30, 2019
CS - People & Companies - September 11, 2019Baytex Energy named Jennifer Maki to its board. She served as CEO of the Canadian subsidiary of global mining company Vale SA, as well as executive director of the parent, from 2014 to 2017. Bellatrix Exploration announced the resignation of EVP and CFO Maxwell Lof to focus on ongoing health issues. His replacement is Shane Abel, who most recently served as CFO at Calgary-based High Ground Energy. Gear Energy Ltd. named Greg Bay and Wilson Wang to its board. Bay is a managing...
Sep 11, 2019
CM - Upstream Briefs - April 3, 2020Baytex Energy Corp. disclosed it had received a NYSE deficiency notice on March 24 because its stock had been trading below $1.00 over a consecutive 30-day period. The company, which is dual listed on TSX and NYSE, has six months from the date of notification to cure the deficiency and regain compliance. The company’s stock is currently trading at $0.24 on the NYSE and C$0.335 on TSX. CNX Resources subsidiary Cardinal States Gathering Co. signed a $125 million, eight-year first-lien...
Apr 03, 2020
CS - Finance Briefs - April 1, 2020Fund manager Auspice Capital Advisors Ltd. said it will discontinue its Canadian Crude Oil Index exchangetraded fund on or about May 22 and has already stopped taking additional direct subscriptions for units. It plans to delist the ETF from the Toronto Stock Exchange by the aforementioned date, and all units will be redeemed to investors. Tim Pickering, Auspice’s founder and chief investment officer, said that the current economic and political environment has made it uneconomic to continue...
Apr 01, 2020
CS - News Briefs - February 19, 2020Baytex Energy Corp. closed its private placement of US$500 million aggregate principal amount of 8.75% senior unsecured notes due 2027 with qualified institutional holders. Proceeds will be used to redeem US$400 million of its 5.125% notes due 2021 and $300 million of its 6.625% debentures due 2022. Baytex said it issued redemption notices to holders of both issues. MEG Energy Corp. announced Jan. 31 that it had closed its offering of US$1.2 billion aggregate principal amount of...
Feb 19, 2020
CS - Finance Briefs - September 11, 2019Baytex Energy Corp.’s capex is on pace for $575 million in 2019, the mid-point of its previous guidance, the company said in a September investor presentation. The E&P firm spent $261 million on capex in H1—on track with expectations— but managed to produce 99,800 boe/d, exceeding annual guidance. It also expects to redeem at par this quarter $150 million of 6.75% senior unsecured notes that mature February 2021. Cabot Energy Inc. entered a nonbinding term sheet for an asset-level loan...
Sep 11, 2019