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Vista Energy, S.A.B. de C.V. (VIST)

Q1 2020 Earnings Call· Fri, May 1, 2020

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by and welcome to Vista Oil & Gas First Quarter 2020 Results Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. After the speakers' presentations, there will be a question-and-answer session.Now it's my pleasure to turn the call to Alejandro Chernacov, Strategic Planning and Investor Relations Officer.

Alejandro Chernacov

Management

Thanks. Good morning everyone. We are happy to welcome you to Vista's First Quarter 2020 Results Earnings Call. I am here with Miguel Galuccio, Vista's Chairman and CEO, and with Pablo Vera Pinto, Vista's CFO.Before we begin, I would like to draw your attention to our cautionary statement on Slide 2. Please be advised that our remarks today, including the answers to your questions, may include forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to be materially different from expectations contemplated by these remarks.Our financial figures are stated in U.S. dollars and in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards. However, during this conference call, we may discuss certain non-IFRS measures such as adjusted EBITDA. Reconciliations of these measures to the closest IFRS measure can be found in the earnings release that we issued today. Please check our website for further information.Our company, Vista Oil & Gas, is a Sociedad Anonima de Capital Variable organized under the laws of Mexico, registered on the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores and the New York Stock Exchange. The tickers of our common stock are VISTA in the Bolsa Mexicana de Valores and VIST in the New York Stock Exchange. The ticker of our warrant is VTW408A.I will now turn the call over to Miguel.

Miguel Galuccio

Management

Good morning everyone, and thank you for joining this earnings call. This webcast is completely different to all the previous ones I have done. We are going through an unprecedented health crisis. I hope you and your families are healthy and staying safe as we go through this COVID-19 pandemic.I would like to kick off by commenting on our response to COVID-19 with a special focus on our people, business continuity, and balance sheet strength. The COVID-19 outbreak is currently causing a significant impact on the global economy, the oil industry, and our operation in Argentina and Mexico. Vista's response has been firm and decisive, as it has been always, especially with regards to the health and safety of our employees. In this respect, I would like to mention the currently 75% of our employees are working from home in accordance to our health protocol. We have also opened a COVID-19 help desk to answer the questions and concerns that our employees might have.The remaining 25% of our workforce is strictly devoted to essential oilfield operations, working on seven day shifts to minimize travel to and from the field. I will use this opportunity to highlight their effort to keep our operation running and thank them for doing so. Please note that our business continuity plan implies a reduction of 65% of key personnel compared to a regular operating day.We have also taken decisive steps to protect our cash position and in turn our balance sheet. We stopped drilling and completion activities and scaled down our capital expenditure projects for the remainder of the year. We are also working on reducing OpEx and G&A costs to lower activity levels. We believe this will lead to a linear and more efficient organization that is fitter for the future.We are in a…

Operator

Operator

Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our first question is from Bruno Montanari with Morgan Stanley. Go ahead, Bruno. Go ahead Bruno

Bruno Montanari

Analyst

Good morning. Thanks for taking the question, and hope everyone is staying safe. I had a few questions. First one, regarding the shut-in strategy, I understand the option of short-term storage, which is an interesting one. But I'm curious on how long you can do this for. So the question is if you have to shut-in for longer, is there a risk that production could take longer to return or that the reservoir might not respond as initially expected? So is there a scenario that you have to restart the wells even if market conditions are not favorable?And second question may be more macro, but there still seems to be quite a bit of confusion with the pricing environment for both oil and natural gas in Argentina. So do you have a feeling on when the market will have more clarity on the policy agreement for the coming quarters? Thank you very much.

Miguel Galuccio

Management

Thank you, Bruno, for your question, and also I hope you and your family, are remaining safe. So look, starting with the first question, yes, definitely we moved very early with the storage. Looking for the budget in order to enter storage, the big advantage that we had at that time was basically when we look at today we secured that for probably half of the price that everybody is paying today, okay? We are paying between 2,500 and 3,000 barrel – $30,000 per day, so very competitive.One more thing that we did, as I mentioned in the presentation, was to preserve value. And for us to preserve value, we need to put things in context. We have – 12 unconventional wells and we have 1,000 conventional wells, okay? Once the unconventional are in natural flow, the other ones require artificial lift and many of them are on the water flat. So therefore, for the OpEx and as we know, or most of the reservoir engineers know, every time that we shut-in a conventional well, it's hard to predict. In many cases, we don't recover the production. And to recover the production, it costs us a lot of money.So we decided to do something that we know how to do. That was to shut-in those 12 wells. We have experience shutting in wells, unconventional wells. We did it for CASO x-1 for Amargo Sur Oeste. We shut-in the well, and we started that well after a few months with flush production of 30%. So even our reservoir engineer said if in a few months we restart the production, we almost can recover the production that we lost for the year, okay?So it just proves that unconventional reservoirs in the stage that we are, okay, and we in the very early…

Bruno Montanari

Analyst

That was very thorough. Thank you very much, Miguel.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. [Operator Instructions] Our next question comes from Regis Cardoso with Credit Suisse. Please go ahead.

Regis Cardoso

Analyst · Credit Suisse. Please go ahead.

All right, good morning everyone. Thanks Miguel for the questions. Well, this time my question is just really one. And if you could sort of try and explain the most detailed you can, how do you plan on preserving liquidity to getting through the debt maturities? Because it appears that this is a shock for the entire oil industry and for many others, now in times of pandemics that will likely make some victims along the way, even if it's not a permanent long-term problem. So my question really is how do you guarantee Vista will be one of the survivors out of this crisis?

Miguel Galuccio

Management

All right, thank you, Regis for the question. It's a very good question, and I'm very happy to answer. And I'm very secure about how we are going to transition all this. So as I mentioned during the presentation, we’re focused in preserving cash, and we know how to do so, preserving cash and protecting value, okay?Preserving cash, when I say that we know how to do so, we have a very low cost operation. As you know, we basically acquired an asset that a few years ago had a lifting cost of around $18 per barrel. We took it down in this quarter below $10, to single digit. And we plan to maintain that $10 even with lower production, okay? And if it's something where we have delivered, it's on that. Of course, we have delivered on unconventional and in productivity too.So we have a low cost operation, and we have also very low G&A that we are reducing farther down. Just to give you a note on that, I have cut total management – total compensation 40%, okay? So G&A also is already low and is going to be lower. Our operation is cash flow positive, okay, at very low realization prices. So today this is the case. I mean we have – with $10 and low G&A, we have an operation that we can run with cash flow negative or low cash flow positive.We have flexible capital commitments, so we designed our CapEx commitment and our ramp-up in terms of unconventional with flexible contracts where we can – as I mentioned in the previous call, we can really reduce CapEx very quickly and then very little CapEx due to the contracts. We are renegotiating those contracts today because, as I mentioned in the presentation, I think, and…

Regis Cardoso

Analyst · Credit Suisse. Please go ahead.

Very clear, though if I may just a few follow ups. What do you believe are the operating costs you have so that we can understand how much volume, given demand is uncertain and prices or the combination of the two would be required for you to break even? And I'm asking this because I believe you are doing a good job in cutting cost, so maybe looking at previous cost is not necessarily a good proxy of what we should expect for 2020, 2021. So costs and then debt maturities or if you could roll over those debts, or if you're still working on OPIC, if you're working on new debt, something that would definitely take liquidity out of the way, if there is any update on that front.And then still on the liquidity sort of thing, how low can you bring down CapEx? You mentioned it's very flexible. Can it be zero? I mean, zero might be too extreme, but can it be very low? And if you do, let's say if you do very close to zero CapEx, what would be the impacts to decline rates and for how long could you actually remain at very low CapEx levels?

Miguel Galuccio

Management

Thank you. Starting with your OpEx, well, low OpEx is – I mean we are spending around today $9 million per month, okay? This is very low OpEx. This is OpEx plus G&A. OpEx alone is around $7 million, okay? So that is how low is our OpEx today.In terms of maturities – no, in terms of CapEx, okay, we already spent in Q1 $75 million. The rest of the year, we can go as low as $20 million additional. So that is how low we can go in CapEx, okay? That is for the rest of the year. So we don't have a really big CapEx commitment.In terms of maturity, I think, I explained this year we have $50 million of maturities with local banks, okay? I think we are today looking at options, but we feel comfortable we can roll over that maturity, and also we can pay it, okay? So we have the option. We are sitting on $200 million cash.The other question was decline. Well, yes, without pulling units, you will decline on the conventional. Remember we have more than 10,000 barrels of production shut-in, so we don't have a problem of decline. If we decline, we open a well that is natural flow basically to maintain in production at much lower lifting costs than the one that we have in the conventional production. So I don't see a problem with that.So I will say, Regis, we feel comfortable. I am sure we will navigate this year, okay? Of course, we are not here to navigate. We are here to grow. Our story is a growth story, and what we have focused on is how we can be – how we can even reduce farther our development cost and an OpEx cost in case – in order to deliver even better return in 2021 when demand and prices are back.

Regis Cardoso

Analyst · Credit Suisse. Please go ahead.

Very clear, Miguel, thanks so much; sincerely hoping that this time of crisis will be behind us soon and that we can all go back to the growth path, which for Vista, I mean, you have done a brilliant job so far. Thanks.

Miguel Galuccio

Management

Thank you, Regis, and thank you for the questions.

Operator

Operator

Thank you so much. And our next question comes from Frank McGann with Bank of America. Please go ahead, Frank.

Frank McGann

Analyst · Bank of America. Please go ahead, Frank.

Yes, thank you very much and good day. I just wanted to hear your views on what you are thinking about long-term breakevens and the potential to cut costs, potentially in the more challenged oil environment globally. Even when things improve, I mean, there's still some uncertainty, excess capacity on the service side and things. So I was just wondering how you are seeing that and the opportunities to cut cost to bring down your breakevens.And then even in the U.S., the expectation that shale will be as competitive going forward even when things improve is [indiscernible] there is a view that shale will be forever challenged. And do you see Vaca Muerta and your own assets as being somewhat more resilient as you look out longer term? And how do you see yourselves, as well as perhaps Argentina as a whole, positioned to be able to continue to develop infrastructure and develop Vaca Muerta?

Miguel Galuccio

Management

Hi, Frank. Thank you for your question. Look, at [indiscernible] breakeven, we are not giving recommendations, but I will tell – data, but I will tell you that in both events. So today we are dealing with between $12 million and $11 million. You have seen our productivity. So today we are both, in lifting cost and in development cost, I will say between $10 and $12 per barrel. So what we are aiming is, in both of them, to be in a single digit environment. And with that, I think Vaca Muerta really will be protecting on low price environment. And let's qualify low, a normal low, not the low that we are today. We see the productivity. We are still surprised about the productivity. Clearly our strategy of completion is going clearly in the right direction. Therefore we feel comfortable that we can get to single digit development cost.In term of lifting cost, when you look at our lifting cost, it's a mix of unconventional and convention. So going in single digit for unconventional, as unconventional production becomes more important in our mix, I think, it's super achievable. I believe there also we are considering a technology that is not well developed in Argentina that is gas lift. So that will allow us also to be less dependent of pulling, and pumps, and so on, and I think it's going to give an edge also to continue reducing operation cost.Long-term, I think, it's very important, your question on maintaining solid capacity in the country. This kind of special moment and situation like the pandemic, it will put Argentina a test on their capacity to maintain that equipment.Now, again I will repeat what I said to Bruno, that the government has decided not to reduce the price at the…

Frank McGann

Analyst · Bank of America. Please go ahead, Frank.

Good. Thank you very much.

Miguel Galuccio

Management

Thank you, Frank.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Pedro Medeiros with Citigroup.

Pedro Medeiros

Analyst · Citigroup.

Good morning guys. Well thank you so much for taking the questions. Miguel and Vista and all the Vista team, okay, congratulations on managing through these difficult times. I just have some quick follow-ups from the previous question. So the first one is, Miguel, would you mind giving some guidance on the working capital side of the business, okay? Are there any measures that you guys are taking that would release more capital in the short term or in the medium term? You still have a good amount of trade receivables there. So I just wanted to understand the dynamic and the official contribution to cash flow from that side of the business.My second question is actually for me to understand this process. How is the process to resume an unconventional well that was shut, okay? So do you have any investments needed to resume production? Do you need to re-frac the wells? So any insight you could give through those operations, I would appreciate.And the third one is kind of a different way to think about breakeven, and it's really more short term guided. Would you have a price range or a minimum selling price that would give you confidence today to resume your unconventional wells production that were shut? Thank you.

Miguel Galuccio

Management

Hi, Pedro, thank you for the questions. So in terms of CapEx, look, what I said before, we have a spending in the first quarter of $75 million. We have reduced in our low case scenario – of course this is something that we will assess quarter by quarter – to an additional $20 million on CapEx, okay? So that is how low we are going on CapEx.We are taking the opportunity to – we believe in the long-term. We have long-term relationships with service companies. So of course we are today discussing contracts, and that is more than the rate that today we have on the standby. And I believe we are making it from both sides, for them to stay put and for us to come back with basically a lower cost structure and an even better contract that we have, assuming that the content that we are going to have when we restart is going to be a contest of lower prices compared with the ones that we came in.So in terms of working capital, we are basically extending the payables, okay, from 30 days to 40 days to 50 days to 60 days, okay? But again, we are not going to do anything crazy, okay? We are in a good position. We are looking to restart operations, and we are not today in a moment that we are going to panic and not think on how we are going to come out of this, okay? We've been through crises. I've been through several, wars and one pandemic as well. And we will stay cool, doing what we have to do, okay? And I think we know how to do that.In terms of restarting unconventional wells, it probably will sound more simple for you than you commented. The well doesn't have to be re-fracked, okay? We just have to open the wells. We have a protocol of choke management. So, for example, the well that was producing 2,500 meter – 2,600 barrels of oil per day was choked, okay? So it's still a few months for that well to be fully open. So we will have to start with, again, a smaller choke at the beginning and go through the protocol to open up those wells step by step in terms of choke management.But in terms of cost, it's managing a choke and open a valve, okay? So that's why unconventional for us is so good and so low cost in natural flow wells. And we have all our wells in natural flow, even though at the end of the day some of them have already more than a year naturally flowing. I think there was another question that was related too.

Pedro Medeiros

Analyst · Citigroup.

Yes, it was – well, thank you so much for the answers, the previous answers. The last question was around if you could give some insights on a range, or what would be the minimum selling price that you would have confidence on resuming your unconventional wells that were shut down.

Miguel Galuccio

Management

Look, we want to come back to normal prices. We are seeing the same curve that you are seeing. I sit it in the [indiscernible], so I see a lot of information and see what has happened in the rest of the world. To be honest with you, it's more complex than pricing today. We need to see the demand and we need to see a sustainable demand with prices at the level that we want to be seeing in order for us to really decide to restart the operation and start to burn CapEx again, okay?So I would say today we are looking to what is going to happen with the demand and when the demand is going to be sustainable again. We know Argentina very well. I've been related to the business here for many years. We know the demand is there, okay, and we know how solid it is, and also we know how fragile it is, because Argentina is not in a position where, if we don't drill, okay, we will sustain our local self-sufficient for too long, okay?So also there's a risk for the country to import, and the government is very sensitive to that. So I will say when the demand comes back and if it – some of this measurement they are thinking of, okay, that help us basically to come out of this with better prices sooner than later, and for what they are looking at also maybe a leg of that potential decree that will allow, or could allow to lower export duties, that also will help, okay? All that measurement will help.The question here is for me, for Argentina, if we can accelerate the ramp up back to the new normality, whatever it is. And for me, the fact again that they have not touched the price of gasoline in the gas stations and the fact that they are advanced working on an instrument, even though it's not done so I'm not going to say anything about that, show me that they are basically betting to economy, betting to recovery, betting to activity more than taking advantage of that situation of the low crude oil prices.

Pedro Medeiros

Analyst · Citigroup.

Okay. Well, thank you so much, Miguel, very good.

Operator

Operator

Thank you so much. And our next question is from Antonella Rapuano with Santander. Please go ahead.

Antonella Rapuano

Analyst

Hi, good morning. Hi, Alejandro, Miguel, thank you taking my question. I was wondering if you see any bottleneck in terms of storage capacity, also considering that these demand conditions could last longer than expected.And a second question is regarding the recovery on demand that you just pointed out. I was wondering if you could give us some magnitude of this recovery that you have seen in the past weeks. Thank you.

Miguel Galuccio

Management

Thank you, Antonella, very good questions. So look, in terms of storage capacity, as we said today, all the storage capacity has been used, okay. When you measure in volume the storage capacity of the country, we probably can store for a little bit more of demand, of production, okay. So therefore, all the storage capacities have been used. Today the storage game is what we have done. It's to have offshore storage, okay. And again, we moved earlier. We were the first in moving there and we took advantage of that. In case this continues, do we have the option to do that again? Yes, we do, okay. For sure it's going to be more costly. Nevertheless, I think that that option is open.In terms of the recovery, as I mentioned before we are basically following the demand very closely, okay? I cannot give you a number. I think it's too early to give you a number. It has been few days. But of course we have information and we saw the demand. Even we feel it, the one that we are active when you go out, but we saw several points coming up in terms of demand in the gas stations in these few days. I think it's too early to give you a number. I prefer not to do so, even though I have a number in mind.

Antonella Rapuano

Analyst

Sure. Thank you, very clear.

Operator

Operator

Thank you. And I'm not showing any further questions in the queue. I would like to turn the call back to Miguel Galuccio for his final remarks.

Miguel Galuccio

Management

Look, guys and girls, thank you very much for the questions. Thank you very much for being present today. Again, I hope you and your family are safe, and we all go through this and come up with a good outcome as soon as possible. So thank you very much for participating. All the best.

Operator

Operator

And with that, ladies and gentlemen, we thank you for participating in today's program and you may now disconnect.