Roland O. Burns
Analyst · Marshall Carver representing Heikkinen Energy Advisors
Thanks, Jay. Slide 5 shows our oil production from continuing operations by region on a daily basis for the last 2 years and the first 2 quarters of this year. And this slide is a little different than the past because it's only reflecting continuing operations and no longer reflects our discontinued West Texas operations. And our oil production this quarter increased to 6,000 barrels per day and was up 1,200 barrels per day or 26% over the first quarter of this year. Oil production this quarter was also 20% higher than the second quarter of 2012. Our Eagle Ford properties in South Texas averaged 5,800 barrels per day as compared to 4,500 barrels per day in the first quarter. With increased drilling in the second half of this year, we expect our oil production from continuing operations to grow at approximately 2.3 million to 2.4 million barrels in 2013, which is an increase of 28% to 34% over 2012. Slide 6 shows our natural gas production for continued operations, also on a daily basis. Our natural gas production declined by 10% to 156 million cubic feet per day as compared to the 174 million per day we had in the first quarter. Production from our Haynesville and Bossier wells, which is shown in dark blue on this slide, declined to 108 million per day this quarter. Our remaining gas production only declined slightly as compared to the first quarter. Production from our Cotton Valley wells, shown in green, averaged 24 million per day; and our South Texas gas production, shown in light blue, was 20 million per day. Other gas productions, shown in purple, was 4 million per day. We expect our natural gas production relating to our continuing operations to decline further this year to approximately 56 to 60 Bcf, which is a decrease of 27% to 32% from 2012. Slide 7 shows our realized oil prices relating to our continuing operations for the second quarter. Oil price realizations in South Texas continued to be strong in the second quarter of 2013, as we realized $100.06 per barrel, down slightly from the $101.79 per barrel we realized in the second quarter of 2012. With the Gulf Coast premium we received in the second quarter, our realized price averaged 107% of the average benchmark NYMEX WTI price. Recently, the premium Gulf Coast crude to WTI has declined substantially, with recent high WTI prices. Currently, we're receiving about $2 less than the WTI price in South Texas. 80% of our oil production was hedged in the quarter, at a NYMEX WTI price of $98.69. After our hedging program, our realized price improved to $105.30 per barrel, 2% lower than the after-hedging oil price we averaged in the second quarter of 2012 of $107.71 per barrel. Slide 8 shows our realized prices for the first 6 months of 2013 relating to the continuing operations. We realized $102.60 per barrel in the first 6 months of 2013, down slightly from the $103.44 per barrel we realized in the first half of 2012. This realized price was 109% of the average WTI price for this period. 85% of our production was hedged in the first 6 months of 2013 at a NYMEX WTI price of $98.69. So, after our hedging program, our realized price improved to $107.89 per barrel, 3% higher than our after oil -- after-hedging oil price we averaged in the first 6 months of 2012 of $104.97. Slide 9 recaps our hedge position. We have an attractive oil hedge position which protects the 2013 drilling program. We have 5,556 barrels per day hedged in the third quarter, at $98.72, and about 6,000 barrels per day in the fourth quarter hedged at $98.67. We plan to hedge about 60% to 70% of our anticipated 2014 oil production. Slide 10 shows our average gas price, which improved by 86% in the second quarter to $3.71 per Mcf as compared to $2 in the second quarter of 2012. Our realized gas price was 91% of average NYMEX Henry Hub gas price for the quarter. Our average gas price improved by 48% in the first 6 months of 2013 to $3.42 per Mcf, as compared to $2.31 in the first 6 months of 2012. Our realized gas price was 92% of the average NYMEX WTI gas price for the first half of 2013. On Slide 11, we cover oil and gas sales including hedging. Our decline in natural gas production was offset by growth in our oil production and improved natural gas price into the second quarter. Sales relating to our continuing operations increased by 19% to $111 million in the second quarter, as compared to $93 million in 2012 second quarter. Oil production made up 52% of total sales, as compared to 53% in the second quarter last year. Sales relating to our continuing operations increased by 6% to $208 million in the first 6 months of this year, as compared to $195 million in 2012's first 6 months. Oil production made up 51% of total sales as compared to 48% in the first half of last year. Our earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and exploration expense, and other noncash expenses, or EBITDAX, increased by 21% to $89 million from $73 million in 2012 second quarter, as shown on Slide 12. $5 million of our EBITDAX in the second quarter was related to the discontinued West Texas operations, with $84 million attributable to our continuing operations. Our EBITDAX increased by 12% to $170 million from $152 million in 2012's first 6 months. $14 million of the EBITDAX in our first 6 months was related to discontinued West Texas operations, with $156 million attributable to our continuing operations. Slide 13 covers our operating cash flow. Our operating cash flow for the quarter came in at $67 million, a 12% increase from cash flow of $60 million in 2012 second quarter. $1 million of our operating cash flow in the second quarter was related to discontinued West Texas operations, with $66 million attributable to our continuing operations. Our operating cash flow for the first 6 months was $129 million, a 2% increase from cash flow of $127 million in 2012's first 6 months. $7 million of our operating cash flow in the first 6 months was related to the discontinued West Texas operations, with $122 million attributable to our continuing operations. On Slide 14, we outlined our earnings reported for the quarter and for the first half of the year. We reported net income of $130 million or $2.68 per share this quarter. $151 million or $3.13 per share related to our discontinued West Texas operations. Excluding discontinued operations, we had a net loss of $21.5 million or $0.45 per share. We did have several unusual items in the second quarter results affecting the continuing operations net loss, including unrealized gains related to our oil hedges and then impairments on unevaluated leases and producing properties. Excluding these items, we would've reported a net loss related to continuing operations of $0.32 per share as compared to a recurring loss from continuing operations of $0.35 per share in 2012's second quarter. For the first 6 months of 2013, net income was $103 million or $2.12 per share as compared to net income of $9 million or $0.18 per share in 2012's first 6 months. Excluding the same unusual items, plus the gain we had on selling our marketable securities in the first quarter, we would've reported a net loss relating to continuing operations of $0.78 per share as compared to a recurring loss from continued operations of $0.62 per share for the same period in 2012. On Slide 15, we show our lifting cost per Mcfe, produced by quarter, relating to our continuing operations. Lifting cost on this chart are comprised of 3 components: production taxes, transportation and other field level operating cost. Our total lifting cost increased to $1.21 per Mcfe in the second quarter of 2013 as compared to $0.90 in the second quarter of 2012, and $1.07 in the first quarter of 2013. The increase is mainly due to lower natural gas volumes in the quarter and the fixed nature of much of the lifting cost. In addition, there were higher production taxes, which are relating to the stronger natural gas prices in the quarter. Production taxes in the quarter averaged $0.22 per Mcfe and our transportation cost averaged $0.25 per Mcfe. Field operating cost in the quarter averaged $0.74 per Mcfe this quarter. On Slide 16, we show our cash, general and administrative expenses per Mcfe produced by quarter, excluding stock-based compensation. Our G&A cost increased to $0.33 per Mcfe in the second quarter of 2013 as compared to $0.23 per Mcfe in the second quarter of 2012. G&A expenses per Mcfe increased slightly over the first quarter rate of $0.31. The increase is solely due to the lower production volumes on an Mcfe basis this quarter. Our depreciation, depletion and amortization per Mcfe produced is shown on Slide 17. Our DD&A rate in the second quarter averaged $4.87 per Mcfe as compared to our $3.54 rate in the second quarter of 2012, and the $4.60 that we averaged in the first quarter of this year. The higher cost of our oil production and then the write-down of undeveloped natural gas reserves that happened last year, arising out of the very low natural gas prices, are causing the higher rates in 2013. On Slide 18, we detail our capital expenditures relating to our continuing operations. Capital expenditures relating to our discontinued operations after January 1 were reimbursed as part of the sales price. We spent $133 million in the first 6 months of this year on our drilling program as compared to the $240 million we spent in 2012's first 6 months. Capital expenditures for our South Texas region, shown in red, relate to our Eagle Ford drilling program, which decreased to $120 million so far this year, as compared to the $144 million we spent in the first 6 months of last year. Lower well cost and then to promote that we're earning under the KKR joint venture account for the decrease. With low natural gas prices our spending for our natural gas properties in North Louisiana declined only $13 million through the first 6 months of 2013 as compared to $96 million in the first half of 2012. So, in total, our capital expenditures relating to our continuing operations of $133 million were funded primarily with the $122 million that we generated from operating cash flow from our continuing operations. The funding gap, of only about $11 million -- we only had a funding gap of around $11 million for the first 6 months of 2013. Slide 19 breaks out our 2013 drilling budget related to our continuing operations. We still expect to spend, and budgeted, $347 million on our drilling program, with $312 million allocated to our Eagle Ford program and the remaining $32 million for any required drilling to hold our acreage in the Haynesville shale. In addition to the amount we're spending for drilling, we've budgeted to spend $12 million on acreage in 2013. Slide 20 recaps our balance sheet at the end of the second quarter, which reflects the closing of the West Texas sale. At the end of the quarter, we had $264 million of cash on hand and $883 million of total debt at June 30, bringing our net debt down to $619 million. We repaid the amount outstanding in our bank credit facility in May, which has a current borrowing base of $500 million, all of which is available. Our net debt is now 33% of our total capitalization, as compared to 59% at the end of the first quarter. As shown on Slide 21, on May 15, 2013, our Board of Directors declared our first dividend in the company's history. Stockholders received $0.125 dividend per share in the second quarter, reflecting the substantial improvement to our balance sheet. The dividend only cost the company about $6 million per quarter, and we expect to continue this dividend in the future. As we show on Slide 21, less than 1/3 of the 61 E&P companies that we survey pay a dividend. And of those 61 companies, we have the second-highest dividend yield of 3.2% at June 30. I'll now turn over to Mark to review our drilling results in the second quarter.