Earnings Labs

Chord Energy Corporation (CHRD)

Q2 2021 Earnings Call· Wed, Aug 4, 2021

$143.89

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Welcome to the Oasis Second Quarter Earnings Results Conference Call. All participants are currently in a listen-only mode. [Operator Instructions.] Please also note, today's event is being recorded. At this time, I like to turn the conference call over to Michael Lou, CFO. Sir, please go ahead.

Michael Lou

Management

Thank you, Jamie. Good morning, everyone. Today, we are reporting our second quarter 2021 financial and operational results. We're delighted to have you on our call. I'm joined today by Danny Brown, Taylor Reid as well as other members of the team. Please be advised that our remarks on both Oasis Petroleum and Oasis Petroleum Partners, including the answers to your questions, include statements that we believe to be forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from those currently disclosed in our earnings releases and conference calls. Those risks include among others matters that we have described in our earnings release as well as in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our annual report on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q. We disclaim any obligation to update these forward-looking statements. During this conference call, we will make reference to non-GAAP measures and reconciliations to the applicable GAAP measures can be found in our earnings releases and on our website. We may also reference our current investor presentation which you can find on our website. With that I'll turn the call over to Danny.

Daniel Brown

Management

Thank you, Michael. Good morning to all, and thanks for joining our call. We sincerely appreciate your interest today. Before I get started, I'd also like to thank the entire Oasis team for their continued hard work and dedication to our organization. I've got to know the company and our people better over the past few months and I couldn’t be more impressed. I know we've all been very busy executing on our operational and strategic objectives and we should all be very proud about we accomplished. We are in a great position to succeed going forward. So, turning back to our call. As I joined Oasis in mid-April, I have the opportunity to reacquaint myself with many of your in the investment community and enjoyed our conversations and want to emphasize that your feedback is valued and it's been influential and how we thought about setting strategy, priorities and plans. I look forward to continuing the dialogue. Now before I hand it over to Taylor to discuss our operational highlights, let me give a few high-level thoughts. First, Oasis delivered another solid quarter with volumes exceeding expectations and costs below plan. Even with all the strategic activity we announced during the second quarter, our second-half plan is essentially unchanged other than the great news that our full-year capital is expected to be below our original expectations. Also during the quarter, the company determined as eligible under Section 382 of the Internal Revenue Code to use its net operating loss position to offset taxable income in 2021 and beyond. Michael will spend more time discussing this later in the call but the main takeaway is we expect significant cash tax savings versus our prior expectations. Second, we closed the Permian divestiture at the end of June and expect our Williston…

Taylor Reid

Management

Thanks, Danny. Oasis saw a strong performance across volumes, capital and operating cost. In the second quarter, we completed 18 gross wells with 11 in the Williston and 07 in the Delaware. Our focus on cost reductions, well-designed in operating efficiencies has resulted in strong base and capital performance and sustainable free cash flow for years to come. On the well cost side, we have made tremendous progress over the past couple of years. In the Bakken, we have recently seen wells in the low $6 million range down about 20% from early 2020. While we're seeing inflationary pressure in select areas such as steel, we've been finding offsets in other areas which has kept overall well costs in check. For example, during the second quarter, we had record frac efficiencies in Wild Basin. We set a record for pump time in a day. On steel, as a reminder, we have locked in pricing for most of the remainder of the year. Overall cost returning more budget which allowed us to cut our capital expenditure guidance by 7% for 2021. Let me touch in a recent Williston acquisition. During the second quarter, the operator brought on four new wells on the DevCo pad in the Fort Berthold area. Results were strong and validate our view of over 40 top tier locations of similar quality across the acquired assets. We expect the acquisition to close late in the third quarter. As a reminder, our third quarter volume guidance does not include any acquisition volumes. We plan to let the acquired assets decline in the second half of the year and into early 2022 before stabilizing overall company volumes at maintenance capital levels. Our fourth quarter average production guidance of 76,000 barrels equivalent per day includes the full quarter of the acquisition.…

Michael Lou

Management

Thanks, Taylor. As Taylor mentioned, we're expecting to close the Williston acquisition at the end of the third quarter. We've provided a third quarter guidance update which excludes any impact from the acquisition while fourth quarter guidance includes a full quarter of performance from the acquired assets. Operationally guidance implied volumes are in line with what we expected in May, while cost in this are a bit better and capital spending is less than expected. As a reminder, the effective date of the transaction was April 1st, so the purchase consideration will be reduced by free cash flow generated from the asset from April 1st through closing. Additionally in the second quarter, Oasis put down a deposit approximately $75 million with the original purchase price of $745 million. As of June 30th, Oasis have had approximately $779 million in cash and $400 million of debt outstanding related to the high-yield offering in May. Currently, Oasis has zero drawn under the borrowing base with elected commitments of $450 million and upon closing of the acquisition our borrowing base is expected to increase to $650 million with our elected commitment staying at $450 million. Oasis continued to do a good job managing LOE and minimizing downtime. E&P LOE averaged $10.21 per BOE for the second quarter below the low end of our guidance. And we expect per unit LOE to decrease into the back half of the year as volumes increase. E&P cash G&A expense was $11 million including a $3 million of expected but nonrecurring items. E&P cash G&A per BOE guidance for the fourth quarter of '21 remains unchanged. Both crude and gas realizations were strong in the quarter as our marketing team continues to do a fabulous job. Oil realizations were particularly strong as market conditions were quite tight…

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our first question today comes from Scott Hanold from RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead with your question.

Scott Hanold

Analyst

Good morning, guys. Congrats on the quarter. I think I want to start out maybe Taylor you obviously talked a little bit about the shape of activity in the next year. And obviously it sounds like you're thinking about and obviously when the acquired assets declined a little bit before you reinvested. So, as we kind of think about big picture or weigh this together, you're adding the second rig and I would assume all those rigs are going to be on legacy Oasis assets. So, is the structural shape of this you're going to kind of dip down one and maybe in the first quarter second quarter and then bounce above that 72 average for the year? Is that sort of the right way to think about sort of the shape? And how many well completions does that contemplate?

Taylor Reid

Management

Yes, Scott. So, yes good question. Adding the second rig in October just because of cycle times is naturally going to push those completions out a bit into 2022. Same because of the we're going to be generating South Nesson and start drilling there. And in Indian Hills right now we're going to start fracking those and in October as well. So, there at the South Nesson is going to start up about when the new rig comes in and starts drilling at South Indian Hills. So, both of those in depth getting pushed in terms of completions kind of 3Q you like you talked about. So, a dip in the 1Q probably a bit into 2Q and then rebound from there. And then, in terms of overall well completion, it's kind of internal timing kind of 40 or so completions, could be a little above that. But obviously a pickup from what we did this year just based on that increased activity. And with that, well we as you said we'll let the QEP assets come down a bit, we're going from 76,000 equivalent today. 4th quarter this year was to combine the assets and then we'll level off more around 72,000 next year.

Scott Hanold

Analyst

Okay. And just to clarify those 40+ completions, those are all in legacy Oasis properties, is that right?

Taylor Reid

Management

Correct, yes.

Scott Hanold

Analyst

Got it, okay. And then, I guess my next question is a little bit on how you think about like shareholder return strategy's going forward. Obviously you guys have used a pretty good portfolio of things and you've been pretty assertive about giving money back in different forms. And where does things like variable dividends play into the equation, is that something that's also a consideration or at this point-in-time do you all feel comfortable with kind of continuing to increase of fixed dividend and using the buyer backs and maybe opportunistic shares special dividends?

Daniel Brown

Management

Thanks for the question, Scott this is Danny. So, I think sort of our guiding principle on these things. It's really going to be around creating value for shareholders. So, back at the end of the day that's what we're trying to accomplish but we recognize that returning cash is a big component of that. So, hopefully our actions to-date where we've done that several different forms or sort of demonstrate our commitment to that concept. I think we're all we'll be balanced in our approach. You've seen us sort of taken all of the above approach so far with a fixed with a special with a share repurchase program. We're discussing the possibility of how does how would a variable dividend, should we want to do that, how would that look. And so, we'll continue to think through all these different concepts. But at the end of the day what's going to guide our action is how do we create the most value for our shareholders.

Scott Hanold

Analyst

I appreciate it, thank you.

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from Derrick Whitfield from Stifel.

Derrick Whitfield

Analyst

Good morning all, and congrats on your update.

Daniel Brown

Management

Thank you, Derrick.

Michael Lou

Management

Thank you, Derrick.

Derrick Whitfield

Analyst

With my first question, I wanted to focus on the tax roll-in and more specifically does the roll-in change your strategic view on how best to crystallize value that is inherent in your portfolio but really not reflected in your stock price today?

Michael Lou

Management

Yes Derrick, it's a great question. Look, there was -- there is a lot of work was done around kind of the tax -- the tax roll-in and how we think about that. Obviously with the sales of Permian asset had created a large tax loss for us as well. So, that's kind of an update from the beginning of the year. There we kind the higher oil prices, the simplification work along with own key unit sale, we had over $200 million of kind of taxable income this year that with this election we can actually shield which is fantastic, just about over a $50 million of cash taxes that we'll save this year. And on top of that, we'll continue to hold a large NOL position going forward in that $400 million to $500 million range. And as you mentioned, that's a considerable asset that can be used in shielding kind of future taxable transactions whether its additional monetization's of assets or just was strong kind of pricing in and cash flow coming back to the company, taxable income from that perspective. So, it's a great position to be in for the company to continue to drive higher pre-cash flow. And as Danny mentioned kind of gives us a lot of decisions to make in terms of returning that capital to shareholders in the best way to create shareholder value.

Derrick Whitfield

Analyst

Makes sense. And perhaps from my follow-up, I'll focus the question with Taylor. Referencing the Painted Woods case study on page 15, wondering if you could offer any commentary on how this area was three more laterals competes in your portfolio when you plan to pursue this first three-mile lateral well. And would you think there is an opportunity to improving the well performance beyond the NOL offset you've evaluated?

Taylor Reid

Management

Yes. So, Derrick the question you know as you look across I'd say Painted Woods and then really in general the whole set of inventory especially as we look forward over this next four year plan we've been talking about. Some important factors here. One, up spacing, we went from eight to 10 wells to five to six wells and that's improving capital efficiencies of per well EORs. Talked a lot about being able to bring down capital costs, so nice capital efficiency improvements. And then along with that the decline profiles we expect to be shallower as these wells brings over time. So, all of those things helped the overall profile. In terms of when we drill the first three-mile laterals? We're actually going to drill eight wells and later this year in South Indian Hills. And then, the first three-mile wells in Painted Woods will happen next year. And we -- those well be preferentially done as we move into the Painted Woods position. And just for note, over 40% of our wells in Painted Woods is close to 45, will be three-mile laterals. And when you look at the program over the next four years, about 40% of that are all three-mile lateral. So, nice increase in economics, you're only spending about a 25% increase in capital but seen up to a 50% uplift in reserves. And so, we'll really nice increase in economics and doing those projects.

Derrick Whitfield

Analyst

Great, very helpful. Thanks for your time.

Taylor Reid

Management

Okay.

Operator

Operator

And our next question is a follow-up from Scott Hanold from RBC Capital Markets. Please go ahead with your follow-up.

Scott Hanold

Analyst

Thanks. I'm just kind of curious if you could elaborate a little bit more on how you think about OMP going forward. You guys have done a pretty good job of really simplifying that in a quick manner. But I think there's probably more work to be done. But can you give us your thoughts on the various options available for you all and is there a timeframe you guys are targeting at kind of bringing that to flourish into to get it to the final kind of position you wanted in?

Daniel Brown

Management

This is Danny. I appreciate the question, Scott. I think when we look at Oasis' shares and how we trade. We continue to see is some other parts discount and the Oasis shares and so. We are evaluating as you know our options on how do we -- how we go about illuminating that value for the Oasis shareholder. I'd say we're doing that with haste, we're doing that with diligence and I wouldn’t expect that we have more share on this in the near future. I think whatever path we decide to go down, it's going to impact our timing a little bit. And so, I don’t want to commit a specific timing on it. But do know that we're actively looking at that internally and we expect to share more with you in the future.

Scott Hanold

Analyst

Yes. Is it ultimately the goal to effectively find a way to deconsolidate, is it too -- is that the plan and so you'd be -- would you be one still own some of our own P in some structure as long as you're able to deconsolidate, is that sort of the end-goal?

Daniel Brown

Management

I think deconsolidation is a I don’t know if I would say deconsolidation is the end-goal. The end-goal was to make sure there is read through value of the Oasis shareholder on the value we've got within OMP. And so, we think one of the steps toward that is likely deconsolidation where we don’t sort of confuse the issue with those holdings for our share base. So, I think that's part of it but not necessarily the end-goal. The end-goal is really about getting the value seen by the Oasis' shareholder.

Scott Hanold

Analyst

Okay, understood. And also another question to you. Operationally, you guys have obviously identified the greater inventory certainly at a new price that's kind of closer to where commodities are right now. In your development plan over the next few years, are those incremental locations in what I'm referring to is the difference between what you guys have valuated, $40 versus the $60 or $65. Are any of those in the inventory or that one of those things more for demonstration purposes of that with the size of the assets holistically?

Daniel Brown

Management

Yes. So, really if you look at the inventory in this plan period, it's the same sort of inventory we're talking about previously. And so, we're focused early on on not a much lower price environment, we're talking about a $45 deck and what's economic at that level. And just as a reminder that included Wild Basin, South Nesson, Indian Hills, Fort Berthold, city of Williston and Painted Woods and in North Alger. So, the incremental inventory to get to the 670 that we're talking about. Currently, very -- we're here being at $70 oil, we've got -- look, and it's -- let's go from $45 to $55 and talk about this robust set of inventory. And the additions there were Painted Woods, West Montana, Red Bank and Dublin a bit of our Fort Berthold to the South and East and then South Cottonwood. And robust economics in those areas, same and we really did the same things as what we did in the other area is up spaced. Really it pushed capital cost down and then an emphasis on three-mile laterals, big chunk of those. And so, we're not going to get to those projects until you get four five year's out. But just thought it was important to highlight those and let people know look we've got a super resilient set of inventory that goes out 12 years at the pace of drilling we'll be doing next year.

Scott Hanold

Analyst

Understood. Thanks, for that.

Operator

Operator

Our next question comes from Phillips Johnston from Capital One. Please go ahead with your question.

Phillips Johnston

Analyst · your question.

Hi guys, thank you. Just one question from me and it's really just a follow-up on Scott's earlier question regarding in terms of capital. So, if we had around $45 oil and $2.50 gas, kind of have thought forever in our model. We showed that leverage ratio remains well below half returns sort of indefinitely. And free cash flow yield but still be somewhere and sort of in the 5% to 10% range on the next several years. You guys have been fairly aggressive so far without returning cash to shareholders. But my question is given that backdrop, is there any reason you wouldn't gravitate towards a more formalized fixed cost variable dividend policy or taken even more aggressive approach around issuing the buybacks. I guess my question is do you guys see any drawbacks or downside in either of those options that might give you guys false.

Daniel Brown

Management

Thanks for the question. Phillips, this is Danny. I think as we think about return of capital, again I appreciate the comments. And we have been pretty forward leaning in this and try to make sure that we've so they taxed us from multiple different projects. We're continuing to discuss that most as a management group and with our board on what does how do we best structural return of capital program. What world make variable dividends play with in and such a -- within such a grain work. And so, I would say that our thoughts around this are ongoing. We are the guiding principle although is really about creating the most value we can from shareholders. And again, we think the returning capital as a big component of that and we're continuinjg to we believe that firmly and we're going to continue to evaluate those programs. And our action's around this as our thoughts develop.

Phillips Johnston

Analyst · your question.

Good. Thank you, Danny.

Operator

Operator

And ladies and gentlemen, at this time we'll end today's question and answer session. I'd like to turn the floor back over to management for any closing remarks.

Daniel Brown

Management

Thanks, Jamie. And thanks everyone for your time today. I'm proud of the accomplishments we've made this year but continue to believe the enterprises on value. And we're going to be working hard to drive our strategic initiatives, and operational performance for the benefit of our shareholders. Simultaneously as you will see in our sustainability report. We intend to remain through more values and continue to operate responsibly for the benefit of all our stakeholders. Thank you very much for joining the call.

Operator

Operator

Ladies and gentleman, with that will conclude today's conference. We do thank you for attending. You may now disconnect your lines.