continues to be directed at protecting our oil volumes. We have approximately 51% of our expected 2014 oil volumes hedged, net of royalties, at a WTI price of US$93.28/bbl. We also have 27% of our expected 2014 natural gas production, net of royalties, hedged at a NYMEX price of US$4.14/Mcf and an additional 2% of our net natural gas production hedged at an AECO price of $3.96/Mcf.
| 2014 Forecast Guidance Summary* | |||||||
| Capital Spending | $760 million | ||||||
| Annual Average Production % liquids |
96,000 – 100,000 BOE/day 48% |
||||||
| Operating Expense | $10.25/BOE | ||||||
| General & Administrative Expense | $2.45/BOE | ||||||
| Cash Equity Based Compensation Expense | $0.25/BOE | ||||||
| Royalties (including state fees) | 23.5% | ||||||
| U.S. Cash Taxes | 3 – 5% of U.S. cash flow | ||||||
| Cash Dividends | $220 million | ||||||
| Cash Dividends per share | $1.08 | ||||||
| Funds Flow | $775 million | ||||||
| Funds Flow per Share | $3.81 | ||||||
| Adjusted Payout Ratio | 120% |
*Assumptions:
Based upon forward commodity prices, forecast costs and the Enerplus share price as of November 26, 2013 including the impact of hedging and does not include any acquisition or divestment activities not currently announced. Adjusted payout ratio is calculated as the sum of dividends paid to shareholders, net of participation in the Stock Dividend Plan plus capital expenditures divided by funds flow. See “Non-GAAP Measures” at the end of this release.
| 2014 Sensitivities | Est. effect on 2014 Funds Flow/Share |
|||||
| Change of $5.00/bbl WTI crude oil | $0.15 | |||||
| Change of $0.50/Mcf NYMEX natural gas | $0.14 | |||||
| Change of 1,000 BOE/day production | $0.05 | |||||
| Change of $0.01 in the US$/CDN$ exchange rate | $0.05 | |||||
Electronic copies of our quarterly and annual results, news releases and other public information including investor presentations are available on our website at www.enerplus.com. For further information, please contact Investor Relations at 1-800-319-6462 or email investorrelations@enerplus.com.
Follow @EnerplusCorp on Twitter at https://twitter.com/EnerplusCorp.
INFORMATION REGARDING FINANCIAL AND OPERATIONAL INFORMATION
Currency and Production Amounts
All amounts in this news release are stated in Canadian dollars unless otherwise specified. All production volumes are presented on a company interest basis, being the Company’s working interest share before deduction of any royalties paid to others plus the Company’s royalty interests. Company interest is not a term defined in Canadian National Instrument 51-101- Standards of Disclosure for Oil and Gas Activities) and may not be comparable to information produced by other entities.
Barrels of Oil Equivalent and Cubic Feet of Gas Equivalent
This news release also contains references to “BOE” (barrels of oil equivalent). Enerplus has adopted the standard of six thousand cubic feet of gas to one barrel of oil (6 Mcf: 1 bbl) when converting natural gas to BOEs. BOEs may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. The foregoing conversion ratios are based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and do not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. Given that the value ratio based on the current price of oil as compared to natural gas is significantly different from the energy equivalent of 6:1, utilizing a conversion on a 6:1 basis may be misleading.
See “Non-GAAP Measures” below.
FORWARD-LOOKING INFORMATION AND STATEMENTS
This news release contains certain forward-looking information and statements (“forward-looking information“) within the meaning of applicable securities laws. The use of any of the words “expect”, “anticipate”, “continue”, “estimate”, “guidance”, “objective”, “ongoing”, “may”, “will”, “project”, “should”, “believe”, “plans”, “intends”, “budget”, “strategy” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking information. In particular, but without limiting the foregoing, this news release contains forward-looking information pertaining to the following: achievement of operational targets for 2013; Enerplus’ expected operating and general and administrative costs and oil and natural gas production volumes for 2013; our average realized crude oil and natural gas prices and future differentials; the proportion of our anticipated oil and natural gas production that is hedged; Enerplus’ financial capacity to support capital spending plans and its dividend; potential asset divestments and acquisitions and the impact of such on our 2013 production; future efficiencies and reserves and production growth from capital spending; future capital and development expenditures and the allocation thereof among our assets; future development and drilling locations, plans and costs; the performance of and future results from Enerplus’ assets and operations, including anticipated production levels, decline rates and future growth prospects; the potential change of our status from “foreign private issuer” to U.S. domestic issuer as of January 1, 2014 and expected changes in our reporting related thereto; and our ability to improve our trading multiple and create significant value for our shareholders.
The forward-looking information contained in this news release reflects several material factors and expectations and assumptions of Enerplus including, without limitation: that Enerplus’ operations and development plans will achieve the expected results; the general continuance of current or, where applicable, assumed industry conditions, including third party costs; the continuation of assumed tax, royalty and regulatory regimes; commodity price and cost assumptions; the continued availability of adequate debt and/or equity financing, cash flow and other sources to fund Enerplus’ capital and operating requirements as needed; the continued availability and sufficiency of our funds flow and availability under our bank credit facility to fund our working capital deficiency; the extent of its liabilities; and that Enerplus will be able to complete planned asset sales. Enerplus believes the material factors, expectations and assumptions reflected in the forward-looking information are reasonable but no assurance can be given that these factors, expectations and assumptions will prove to be correct.
The forward-looking information included in this news release is not a guarantee of future performance and should not be unduly relied upon. Such information involves known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results or events to differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking information including, without limitation: changes in commodity prices; changes in the demand for or supply of Enerplus’ products; unanticipated operating results, results from development plans or production declines; changes in tax or environmental laws, royalty rates or other regulatory matters; changes in development plans by Enerplus or by third party operators of Enerplus’ properties; increased debt levels or debt service requirements; inaccurate estimation of Enerplus’ oil and gas reserves and resources volumes; limited, unfavourable or a lack of access to capital markets; an inability to complete planned asset sales and acquisitions; increased costs; a lack of adequate insurance coverage; the impact of competitors; reliance on industry partners; and certain other risks detailed from time to time in Enerplus’ public disclosure documents (including, without limitation, those risks identified in Enerplus’ Annual Information Form and Form 40-F for the year ended December 31, 2012, filed on SEDAR and EDGAR, respectively, on February 22, 2013).
The forward-looking information contained in this news release speaks only as of the date of this news release, and none of Enerplus or its subsidiaries assume any obligation to publicly update or revise them to reflect new events or circumstances, except as may be required pursuant to applicable laws.
NON-GAAP MEASURES
In this news release, we use the term “adjusted payout ratio” to analyze operating performance, leverage and liquidity. We calculate “adjusted payout ratio” as cash dividends to shareholders, net of our stock dividends (and for 2012 comparative purposes, our DRIP proceeds), plus capital spending (including office capital) divided by funds flow.
Enerplus believes that, in addition to net earnings and other measures prescribed by IFRS, the term “adjusted payout ratio” is a useful supplemental measure as it provides an indication of the results generated by Enerplus’ principal business activities. However, this measure is not recognized by GAAP and does not have a standardized meaning prescribed by IFRS. Therefore, this measure, as defined by Enerplus, may not be comparable to similar measures presented by other issuers.
SOURCE Enerplus Corporation
For further information:
Ian C. Dundas
President & Chief Executive Officer
Enerplus Corporation