- Record cash provided by operating activities of $109.2 million
- Record adjusted funds flow (“AFF”)(a) of $108.9 million or $0.57/share
- Free cash flow (“FCF”)(a) of $22.9 million (21% of AFF)
- Cash used in investing activities was $77.0 million
- Net capital expenditures(a) were $86.0 million
- Net income of $19.5 million or $0.10/share
- Tax pools of $1.4 billion are expected to provide near-term cash tax deferrals
- Operating expenses remained low at $2.79/boe including a major plant turnaround at Glacier
- Bank indebtedness decreased $49.8 million to $117.6 million
- Net debt(a) decreased to $136.7 million with net debt to AFF(a) ratio at 0.5x
- Record quarterly production of 52,946 boe/d (288.2 MMcf/d natural gas, 4,908 bbls/d liquids), a 10% increase compared to fourth quarter 2021
- Record quarterly liquids production of 4,908 bbls/d (997 bbls/d oil, 1,057 bbls/d condensate, and 2,854 bbls/d NGLs)
- Glacier Gas Plant raw gas throughput exceeded 375 MMcf/d for sustained periods during the quarter
- Executed a major plant turnaround at the Glacier Gas Plant in co-ordination with construction of the Entropy Modular Carbon Capture and Storage project
- Completed six wells at Wembley with encouraging early flow-back results
- Completed the construction of a trunk-line from Advantage’s Wembley oil battery to the Keyera Pipestone Processing Facility adding 30 MMcf/d firm capacity for the asset
- Completed construction of a new 25 MMcf/d compressor station at Progress, increasing transportation capacity for the area and capturing 10 MMcf/d of contracted third-party volumes
|
(a) |
Specified financial measure which is not a standardized measure under International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) and may not be comparable to similar specified financial measures used by other entities. Please see “Specified Financial Measures” for the composition of such specified financial measure, an explanation of how such specified financial measure provides useful information to a reader and the purposes for which management of Advantage uses the specified financial measure, and where required, a reconciliation of the specified financial measure to the most directly comparable IFRS measure. |
Advantage increased its hedging position to approximately 44% of its forecast natural gas production for summer 2022 at an average of US$4.23/MMbtu and 34% for winter 2022/23 at an average of US$4.98/MMbtu.
In the first quarter of 2022, Advantage secured an additional 47.4 MMcf/d of firm transportation capacity to Empress, AB on the NGTL system for a 4-year term commencing April 2022.
In order to maximize shareholder returns, Advantage’s priority is growing adjusted funds flow per share(a). To optimize growth of adjusted funds flow(a), Advantage will continue to grow organically at approximately 10% per year, though growth may increase modestly should market conditions continue to be supportive. To supplement organic funds flow growth, Advantage will continue to evaluate synergistic acquisitions based on funds flow accretion, using available cash and debt.
Advantage’s bank debt fell below our current debt target of approximately $200 million during the fourth quarter of 2021 and continued to drop faster than anticipated. As a result of the current surge in profitability, Advantage anticipates that 2022 adjusted funds flow(a) will substantially exceed capital and acquisition spending. Free cash flow (net of capital and acquisitions) will be allocated to our share buyback program, with 4.1 million common shares already purchased since inception on April 13, 2022.
The capital program for the second half of 2022 will focus on oil-weighted growth which delivers outsized adjusted funds flow(a) growth per unit of production growth. While total production for 2022 is expected to grow by approximately 10%, relative adjusted funds flow(a) would be expected to grow by over 25% assuming consistent commodity prices. We are on-track to generate free cash flow(a) of over $140 million in the first half of 2022.
With recent cost inflation that is being experienced by the industry, Advantage’s 2022 capital program is migrating towards the top of our guidance range at approximately $200 million. Given the increased commodity price environment and accelerated royalty payouts, 2022 royalty rates are expected to increase to between 12% and 17%. Having secured additional Empress transportation assets, 2022 transportation expenses are expected to increase to between $4.85/boe and $5.15/boe. Production is expected to average between 52,000 and 55,000 boe/d in 2022 (see News Release dated December 6, 2021).
With modern, low emissions-intensity assets, imminent start-up of Entropy Inc’s first carbon capture and storage project at Glacier, and a plan to achieve net zero emissions by 2025, the Corporation is proud to deliver clean, reliable, sustainable energy, while contributing to a reduction in global emissions by displacing high-carbon fuels.
|
Financial Highlights
|
Three months ended March 31 |
|||
|
($000, except as otherwise indicated) |
2022 |
2021 |
||
|
Financial Statement Highlights |
||||
|
Natural gas and liquids sales |
177,569 |
99,373 |
||
|
Net income (loss) and comprehensive income (loss) |
19,496 |
(425) |
||
|
per basic share (2) |
0.10 |
0.00 |
||
|
Basic weighted average shares (000) |
190,829 |
188,113 |
||
|
Cash provided by operating activities |
109,157 |
51,566 |
||
|
Cash used in financing activities |
(50,769) |
(7,548) |
||
|
Cash used in investing activities |
(76,983) |
(15,069) |
||
|
Other Financial Highlights |
||||
|
Adjusted funds flow (1) |
108,878 |
53,978 |
||
|
per boe (1) |
22.85 |
12.04 |
||
|
per basic share (1)(2) |
0.57 |
0.29 |
||
|
Net capital expenditures (1) |
86,014 |
37,185 |
||
|
Free cash flow (1) |
22,864 |
16,793 |
||
|
Working capital (surplus) deficit (1) |
19,115 |
(27,516) |
||
|
Bank indebtedness |
117,558 |
240,428 |
||
|
Net debt (1) |
136,673 |
212,912 |
||
|
(1) |
Specified financial measure which is not a standardized measure under International Financial Reporting Standards (“IFRS”) and may not be comparable to similar specified financial measures used by other entities. Please see “Specified Financial Measures” for the composition of such specified financial measure, an explanation of how such specified financial measure provides useful information to a reader and the purposes for which management of Advantage uses the specified financial measure, and where required, a reconciliation of the specified financial measure to the most directly comparable IFRS measure. |
|
(2) |
Based on basic weighted average shares outstanding. |
|
Operating Highlights
|
Three months March 31 |
|||
|
2022 |
2021 |
|||
|
Operating |
||||
|
Production |
||||
|
Crude oil (bbls/d) |
997 |
1,395 |
||
|
Condensate (bbls/d) |
1,057 |
721 |
||
|
NGLs (bbls/d) |
2,854 |
2,493 |
||
|
Total liquids production (bbls/d) |
4,908 |
4,609 |
||
|
Natural gas (Mcf/d) |
288,226 |
271,262 |
||
|
Total production (boe/d) |
52,946 |
49,819 |
||
|
Average realized prices (including realized derivatives)(2) |
||||
|
Natural gas ($/Mcf) |
5.04 |
3.07 |
||
|
Liquids ($/bbl) |
82.48 |
48.11 |
||
|
Operating Netback ($/boe) |
||||
|
Natural gas and liquids sales(2) |
37.26 |
22.16 |
||
|
Realized losses on derivatives(2) |
(2.19) |
(0.87) |
||
|
Processing and other income |
0.30 |
– |
||
|
Net sales of purchased natural gas |
0.01 |
– |
||
|
Royalty expense(2) |
(3.42) |
(1.13) |
||
|
Operating expense(2) |
(2.79) |
(2.45) |
||
|
Transportation expense(2) |
(4.36) |
(3.57) |
||
|
Operating netback (1) (2) |
24.81 |
14.14 |
||
|
(1) |
Specified financial measure which is not a standardized measure under IFRS and may not be comparable to similar specified financial measures used by other entities. Please see “Specified Financial Measures” for the composition of such specified financial measure, an explanation of how such specified financial measure provides useful information to a reader and the purposes for which management of Advantage uses the specified financial measure, and where required, a reconciliation of the specified financial measure to the most directly comparable IFRS measure. |
|
(2) |
Specified financial measure which is a supplementary financial measure. Please see “Specified Financial Measures” for the composition of such supplementary financial measure. |
The Corporation’s unaudited consolidated financial statements for the three months ended March 31, 2022 together with the notes thereto, and Management’s Discussion and Analysis for the three months ended March 31, 2022 have been filed on SEDAR and are available on the Corporation’s website at https://www.advantageog.com/investors/financial-reports. Upon request, Advantage will provide a hard copy of any financial reports free of charge.