Brad Holly
Analyst · SunTrust
Thank you, Eric. As we continue to navigate the challenging industry landscape of volatile commodity prices, and a constrained gas infrastructure market in North Dakota. We are taking strong measures to improve our margins and deliver on our goal of generating free cash flow. This is consistent with our stated strategy to delivery a better cost structure and more consistent results. Now, I’ll briefly cover the quarter and then address the strategic initiatives we announced yesterday. I like to start off by referring you to Slide number 8 in our corporate presentation. The slide demonstrates that year-over-year our oil production rates have been consistent with our historical results. Our wells are performing as anticipated and a reduction of our oil guidance is a function of above ground constraints. We are getting strong well results, Foreman Butte as depicted on Slide 26 of our updated corporate presentation. We are delivering top tier results from acreage purchase for an attractive price. We believe this illustrates our team’s ability to understand the rock and apply the latest technology to further expand the Bakken core. Conservatively, the success adds over 100 net risk high-quality locations to Whiting’s inventory. Second quarter oil production was impacted by a very tight situation for gas processing across the basin. Industry gas capture in May delayed this month reported by North Dakota was 81% versus a regulatory mandate of 88%. Whiting is committed to remaining a responsible operator and continuing to meet this standard. To minimize flaring, we are producing some wells at constrained oil rates, while we focus on increasing gas capture through the installation of mobile combustion units, building out gathering systems, and completing our ray gas processing plant. Constraints also impacted the pace of planned operating activity. In summary, infrastructure constraints were more severe than anticipated and we did not have enough cushion for associated operating delays. These factors lowered oil production. To adjust this trend, we have adopted a revised program with a higher risk factor for unplanned down time. Infrastructure constraints are forecast to persist for the remainder of 2019, but our modified plan is designed to account for this, and we believe it will result in a more stable production rate and more consistent results. Now, turning to the restructuring initiatives that we announced yesterday. As the oil and gas industry landscape continues to evolve, we see the opportunity to improve our cost structure and streamline our operations in order to become a leading value focused developer of unconventional assets. We are committed to safety, cost efficiency, disciplined capital execution, and maximizing returns. As part of our restructuring plan, we conducted a reorganization and reduced our workforce by 33% or 254 employees. Of this total, 94 were executive in corporate positions. The decision to reduce headcount is always a difficult one as it impacts talented colleagues and friends. However, this action will better align our business unit with the operating environment and drive long-term value. I want to take a moment to highlight the key initiatives of our restructuring. We redesigned the company’s organization to improve cost and enhance execution. Streamline operations to expedite the delivery of peer leading returns and free cash flow. And we are implementing new technologies and processes in the field to enhance operational efficiency. The reorganization is projected to generate $15 million of annual cost savings and should improve corporate capital efficiency going forward. On the financial side, we are focused on capital discipline and paying down debt. We maintained our 2019 capital budget guidance of $800 million to $840 million. To accommodate more non-ops spending, we reduced spending in other areas like exploration. The non-operated properties we have elected to participate in are highly economic. By participating, we create a value option to either retain or sell the associated properties. This is evident in our sale of $53 million of non-operated properties at attractive prices. Between our savings from restructuring and Redtail deficiencies rolling off in April of 2020, we save approximately $50 million in G&A and $60 million in Redtail deficiencies on an annualized basis. This improves our margins by $2.40 a barrel and adds another $1.21 per share of cash flow. Before we open to Q&A, I want to welcome Correne Loeffler as CFO. Correne has a strong background in corporate finance and extensive capital markets experience. Her skills and experience will be a strong addition to our team and we look forward to introducing her to you in the months ahead. We thank Mike Stevens for his long service at Whiting and wish him the best in the future. Operator, please open up the conference call for Q&A.