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Gran Tierra Energy Inc. (GTE)

Q2 2014 Earnings Call· Thu, Aug 7, 2014

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Transcript

Operator

Operator

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to Gran Tierra Energy's Results Conference Call for the Quarter ended June 30, 2014. My name is Katina, and I'll be your coordinator for today. [Operator Instructions] I would like to remind everyone this conference is being webcast and recorded today, Thursday, August 7, 2014, at 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Please be advised that in addition to historical information, certain comments made during this conference call, particularly those anticipating future financial performance, business prospects and overall operating strategies constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Safe Harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements may be identified by words such as anticipate, believe, estimate, expect, intend, predict and hope or similar expressions. Such statements, which include estimated or forward-looking production and financial information or results, are based on management's current expectations and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties, which could cause actual results to differ materially from those described in forward-looking statements. Listeners are urged to carefully review and consider the various disclosures made by Gran Tierra Energy in its reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those risks set forth in Gran Tierra's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended June 30, 2014, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, August 6, 2014. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize or if the underlying assumptions prove incorrect, Gran Tierra Energy's actual results may vary materially from those expected or projected. Listeners are urged not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements made in today's conference call. Gran Tierra Energy assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements, other than as may be required by applicable law and regulation. Today's conference call also includes the non-GAAP measure funds flow from operations. The press release disseminated by Gran Tierra Energy this morning includes a reconciliation of these non-GAAP items with the company's GAAP net income or loss, as well as information about why management believes the measure is useful in evaluating the company's performance, and is available on Gran Tierra Energy's website, www.grantierra.com. All dollar amounts mentioned in today's conference call are in U.S. dollars, unless otherwise stated. Finally, this earnings call is the property of Gran Tierra Energy Inc. Any copying or rebroadcasting of this call is expressly forbidden without the written consent of Gran Tierra Energy. I will now turn the conference over to Dana Coffield, President and Chief Executive Officer of Gran Tierra Energy. Mr. Coffield, please go ahead.

Dana Coffield

Analyst

Thank you, Katina. Good afternoon, and thank you for joining us for Gran Tierra Energy's Second Quarter 2014 Results Conference Call. With me today is Shane O'Leary, our Chief Operating Officer; and James Rozon, our Chief Financial Officer. Yesterday evening, we disseminated a press release that included detailed financial information about the quarter. In addition, Gran Tierra Energy's 2014 report on Form 10-Q for the 3 months ended June 30, 2014 has been filed on EDGAR and SEDAR and will be available on our website at www.grantierra.com. I'm going to begin today by talking about some of the key developments for the quarter. James will discuss key aspects of this quarter's financial results and Shane will then take a few minutes to provide an operations update. I will then return to provide a budget update and closing remarks. Gran Tierra Energy has continued to successfully execute a strategy, focusing on its core assets and operating capability, while continuing to position for an exciting exploration and development program in the second half of 2014. Our Argentina business unit was successfully divested, while we continued development of our Costayaco and Moqueta fields in Colombia, which in turn continue to deliver a strong production and cash flow. Preparations for continued drilling of 4 exploration wells in the Putumayo Basin in Colombia in the second half of 2014 and one important development well in the Bretaña field in Peru, which is expected to shift a large amount of the possible reserves into the probable category. Finally, and very importantly, we continued planning to initiate our first crude oil production in sales from that field before year end. Let me talk a little about the quarterly results. Production from continuing operations for the second quarter of 2014 averaged 26,261 barrels of oil equivalent per day…

James Rozon

Analyst

Thank you, Dana. Good afternoon, everyone. Our operational success has translated into another quarter of financial success, allowing us to retain a strong balance sheet to continue funding our growth strategy. On June 25, 2014, we sold our Argentina business unit to Madalena Energy for consideration of $69 million comprising $55 million in cash and $14 million in Madalena shares. The results of the Argentina business unit, together with the loss on sale, are presented as loss from discontinued operations, net of income taxes, in the company's interim unaudited condensed consolidated statements of operations. Revenue and other income and expenses include results from continuing operations and exclude the results of the Argentina business unit. For the second quarter of 2014, revenue and other income decreased by 2% to $149 million from $152 million compared with the first quarter of 2014 due to lower production, resulting from increased inventory in Colombia, partially offset by higher realized prices. Average realized oil prices increased by 4% to $93.72 per barrel for the second quarter of 2014, compared with $89.89 per barrel in the first quarter of 2014 due to lower volumes sold in the current quarter for which price is adjusted for trucking costs. Revenue and other income in the second quarter of 2014 decreased by 1% to $149 million, compared with $151 million in the corresponding quarter in 2013 as a result of decreased production due to increased oil inventory, partially offset by increased realized prices. An inventory increase accounted for 2,320 barrels of oil per day of reduced production compared with an inventory increase of 205 barrels of oil per day in the comparative quarter. The average price received per barrel of oil increased by 8% to $93.72 for the second quarter of 2014 from $86.71 in the second quarter of…

Shane P. O'Leary

Analyst

Thank you, James. Gran Tierra Energy had another successful quarter in executing its operations. On the Chaza Block in Colombia, the development of the Costayaco field is ongoing with the Costayaco 20 and 22 wells both spud in the first quarter of 2014 and put on production in the second quarter of 2014 to help maintain plateau production in the field. Production from both wells is approximately 2,700 barrels per day. Costayaco-21 has been drilled, tested and tied in with production start-up imminent. The Costayaco-19 development well is drilling ahead. Development of the Moqueta field continues with the Moqueta-13 development well drilled in the southeast direction from the Moqueta-1 well pad. The well encountered oil in the T-Sandstone and Caballos formations which, together, tested approximately 1,500 barrels of oil per day on a restricted choke. The well has been tied in and is currently producing about 1,250 barrels per day from the T-sand only. Drilling of the Moqueta-14 has just begun with drilling expected to take approximately 1 month. Subsequent to the end of the second quarter of 2014, we were the successful bidder on Putumayo-31 block in the Putumayo Basin of Colombia and Colombia's National Hydrocarbon Agency 2014 bid round. And we are expected to become the operator of the block subject to final government approval. Our planned work program for the remainder of 2014 in Colombia includes drilling the Eslabón Sur Shallow-1 and Eslabón Sur Deep-1 exploration wells, which are targeting the same Cretaceous Sandstones encountered in the Costayaco and Moqueta fields. These wells are expected to begin drilling in the third and fourth quarters of 2014 respectively. The Corunta-1A exploration well is expected to spud in the third quarter of 2014, and will be drilled in a northeast direction from the Costayaco-17 well pad, targeting a downthrown…

Dana Coffield

Analyst

Thank you, Shane. So Gran Tierra Energy's planned capital program for exploration and production operations in Colombia, Brazil, Peru and Argentina for 2014 has been revised to $482 million from $495 million. This now includes $249 million for Colombia, $37 million for Brazil, $18 million for Argentina, $173 million for Peru and $5 million associated with corporate activities. Much of the second half capital program spending will be allocated to drilling the 4 exploration wells in Colombia, 3 of which are on the same block as Costayaco and Moqueta fields. On the Bretaña discovery in Peru, we continue to work on facilities and continue to plan for the first production in the fourth quarter, and we are making substantial progress and have just signed a large transportation contract for transporting our crude to a refinery in the city of Aquitos. In the second half of this year, Gran Tierra Energy is poised for additional production growth, with plans to reach 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day gross working interest or 23,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day net after royalty before adjustments for inventory changes and losses before year end. And believes this drilling, development drilling, in Bretaña may lead to significant increase in 2P reserves if successful. In addition, exploration success in the Putumayo basin may add additional reserves in the production to our base. On a personal note, as Shane prepares for retirement, I would like to thank him for his incredible contributions to the growth of Gran Tierra Energy over the last 6 years, helping the company manage its remarkable growth and building a team of high performance explorers and developers of crude oil in South America that will continue building this company. Similarly, I look forward to Duncan Nightingale returning to Calgary from Bogotá to fill Shane's role, bringing with him his 5 years of on-the-ground experience in Colombia to share with our growing company. That concludes our prepared remarks for this afternoon. We would now be pleased to answer any questions you might have. Katina?

Operator

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Your first question comes from the line of Nathan Piper representing RBC.

Nathan Piper - RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division

Analyst

A few questions for me, if I may. First of all, on Peru, can you just remind us of where we're at and where we might be going in delineating the size of the Bretaña field? So can you confirm the recovery factors that were applied by your reserves auditor to come up with the 60 million and 114 million barrels you've got so far? And then, secondly, what is Bretaña Sur targeting and what's the scale perhaps of the add that it could see if it's successful? And then, maybe lastly, if you get to [ph] include the Envidia lobe that you guys spotted in the seismic on a conservative basis, what kind of scale structure are we looking at in the round?

Dana Coffield

Analyst

Nathan, this is Dana. I don't recall the recovery factors in the report. I don't know if they're actually in the report. The range -- there is range -- sorry, of recovery factors for each of the reserve categories. It will range from 10% to 20%, but I can't recall specifically those numbers. In terms of the Envidia's size, in terms of the scale of additional potential there, just based on area from the map area, there could be another 10% to 20% of resource additions there. And then, I think the other question was the amount of reserves that could go from the 3P into the 2P category. It could be very substantial at least 50%, another 30 million barrel order of magnitude. But again that will be up to the results of the well and GLJ to determine.

Nathan Piper - RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division

Analyst

Of course. I guess what I meant was if you have a long-term production test alongside the Bretaña Sur well, I guess that provides further evidence on recovery factor and I guess the point is it's relatively conservative recovery factor that's being applied at the moment.

Dana Coffield

Analyst

That's correct. And in fact, you've hit it straight on the nose is GLJ, as well as Gran Tierra needs to see the results of the long-term test to get a better feel of what the recovery factors will actually be. And similar to what happened in Costayaco, early assumptions were very conservative. With production history, we're able to increase those recovery factors based on production data. So you're correct. The initial assumptions will be on the conservative side.

Shane P. O'Leary

Analyst

17% [indiscernible].

Nathan Piper - RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division

Analyst

Understood. I have a follow-on question please [indiscernible] topic. Just to confirm, in terms of the activities in the second half, have you got all the rigs; have you got all the approvals; are all the drill pads ready? Or put in another way, is there anything that -- well, there's always something that can happen, but have you everything in place in order to achieve all the different bits of drilling [ph] that you've talked about both in Colombia?

Shane P. O'Leary

Analyst

In Colombia or Peru?

Nathan Piper - RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division

Analyst

Either and both.

Shane P. O'Leary

Analyst

In Peru, there is 1 or 2 permits that are still outstanding for the L4 location well, the Bretaña Sur well, and -- but we fully expect those to be in place to enable us to drill that well in the fourth quarter. In Colombia, I believe that we have all of our permits in place for the, certainly, for the Moqueta wells, Costayaco wells. The exploration wells, the answer is yes.

Nathan Piper - RBC Capital Markets, LLC, Research Division

Analyst

And likewise, the rigs and everything else, you got that secured or on the way or...

Shane P. O'Leary

Analyst

Well, in the case of Peru, we actually have the rig on our platform. We're paying a -- what we negotiated was a very low standby rate with the rig company, it's in everybody's best interests just to keep it in the vicinity because we know we're going to be drilling that well in the fourth quarter. So we definitely have that rig. We'll have 4 rigs going in Colombia and 3 of them are currently doing work for us, and I have not heard any issues related to securing the fourth rig. So I don't see that being a problem.

Operator

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Pedro Medeiros representing Citigroup.

Pedro Medeiros - Citigroup Inc, Research Division

Analyst

Well, I have a couple of questions as well. The first one is related to Peru. Do you mind sharing what was exactly the CapEx you drew [ph] and completed Bretaña, the water disposal well? And you mentioned at budget, but I wonder how does that compare to the exploration well and to the cost per well you were forecasting for the actual development plan for Bretaña.

Shane P. O'Leary

Analyst

Yes, the well -- well, the well was actually cheaper than the first well because -- well, first of all, we didn't do a lateral off of it, we just drilled a vertical well. The design was a lot simpler. The completion is a lot simpler because we're actually just looking at injecting water. So it wasn't as much involved in completing the well. I'm trying to remember the -- I think the cost of the well was roughly $30 million.

Pedro Medeiros - Citigroup Inc, Research Division

Analyst

$30 million. And is there any major difference you drilling the water disposal well to the effective production wells?

Shane P. O'Leary

Analyst

Well...

Dana Coffield

Analyst

The production well is going to be drilled much differently. The water injection well was a vertical wellbore and the producing wells that we're planning will be deviated wells going off in different directions that will then go horizontally through the reservoir section. And then, each of those will have a sidetrack or some of them, in some cases, maybe 2 sidetracks. So we'll have duolaterals or trilateral wellbores in the reservoir. So the production wells that we're planning are much more complicated wells than a simple water disposal well.

Pedro Medeiros - Citigroup Inc, Research Division

Analyst

Okay. And as far as Bretaña goes as well, I understand the that current schematic for developing the whole P2 and even the P3 reserves already both for Bretaña would involve only the deployment of 3 platforms. Can you share a little bit of how you think of the timeframe for deploying these platforms? And when you expect to start contracting those? Is it -- do you need to complete the extended well pads for the 6 months? Or is there any chance you could go to the market before that?

Dana Coffield

Analyst

Yes. Well, the first platform, of course, is already built. And we'll be focusing the development drilling on that northern platform in the first few years. We are building the second -- or about to start building the second location for the L4 well. So it will be built by the end of the year, of course. It's not clear yet when we'll expand that well -- or that area, that platform because we won't be doing a development drilling there for probably 2 years. And then the third platform or a fourth, if required, will be a couple of years beyond that. So really, the platform construction you're referring to is going to be staged over 4 to 5 years, with no sort of [ph] drilling activity taking place in the first few years on the existing platform.

Pedro Medeiros - Citigroup Inc, Research Division

Analyst

Okay. Perfect. And just one last question related to Peru. Do you have any updated timeframe for drilling the prospects on the other licenses different than Bretaña?

Dana Coffield

Analyst

We're planning on 3 exploration wells in the coming 2 years. So the first of those will be drilled in second half of next year on Block 107. And then, in the second half of the following year, 2016, we'll be drilling on our 2 northern Blocks 123 and 125.

James Rozon

Analyst

29.

Dana Coffield

Analyst

29. Sorry, 29.

Pedro Medeiros - Citigroup Inc, Research Division

Analyst

Okay. Perfect. And my last question is related to Brazil. Can you comment on further reserves upside through the conventional reservoirs either from Agua Grande and Sergi following the same type of upgrades that you just had that you're finding to touch [ph] anything new in the next 6 to 12 months that could upgrade the reserves from Brazil further?

Dana Coffield

Analyst

There's potential for modest reserve upgrade with additional production history. There's also potential for additional reserve upgrade with additional development drilling. Probably 1, maybe 2 more wells, development wells, could add additional reserves. We may see those get drilled next year. And so I guess the short answer is yes, there is additional reserve potential in the existing Tiê field. In closer near term, the real upside is not just the reserves, but the potential to significantly increase production. If we can come up with a solution for the gas instead of flaring it, actually, transport the gas or sell the gas, we could then effectively double our current production in the field. So there is both reserve upside potential, as well as production growth potential.

Operator

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Brant Marquardt [ph] representing Amber Capital.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

Just on Bretaña again. There is a Bloomberg article at the beginning of June, which stated you guys were looking to possibly accelerate development here. I was just wondering if this is still being contemplated. And if so, what's required for this decision to go ahead?

Dana Coffield

Analyst

We're doing a -- well, we're just now starting a feed study from an engineering design study that will mature our existing pre-feed study. So in the pre-feed study, we talked about 7,000 barrels a day in 2017, somewhere between 20,000 and 40,000 barrels a day around 2021. So this feed study is going to provide more detailed resolution to our plans. And within those plans -- again, it's just starting. There is a potential to bring that production profile forward. But we won't know definitely what that plan will be until the, well, I'll say, the first quarter of next year. So yes, there is a potential, and we're working that different drilling options to try to realize that potential to bring production forward. One aspect we're working on is drilling a -- what we're calling a test well, a duolateral well in the second half of next year, which will explore the northern end of the Bretaña field. And with 2 laterals, if successful, with that exploration, then we could again contribute to bringing that production forward. But right now, it's very early days and we can't speak definitively to what the outcome would be.

Unknown Analyst

Analyst

Okay. And just on the rig you have in place, would you expect -- I guess, would it be fair to assume that you'll get keep that busy? Or would you give that up in 2015?

Dana Coffield

Analyst

We'll probably -- depending on the...

Shane P. O'Leary

Analyst

We'll re-tender [ph]. We're keeping it for the L4 well, and it will be included in the tender process for the main field development and any additional drilling that we do.

Operator

Operator

Your next question comes from the line of Caio Carvalhal representing JPMorgan. Caio M. Carvalhal - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division: I had a couple of questions in Peru and one specifically in Colombia. But I'll start with Colombia because in Peru, most of it has already been addressed. When I look at the number of days that you had the pipeline interrupted, it seems to me that in the second quarter of 2014, you didn't have a particularly high number of days interrupted. It was actually slightly lower than, I guess, last quarter and lower than what we saw over the same period last year in 2013. However, it seems to -- it also seems to me that for some reason, the prediction was much strongly affected this quarter than before. So I'd like to try to understand what happened. Why '13 volumes were lower than, let's say, expected? So what is the difference? And also, is this related to the cut in the guidance? Because I mean, part of the cut in the guidance is clearly related in Argentina, but it seems that the guide -- the cut is actually higher than what Argentina was contributing. So I guess, it's also related to lower expectations in Colombia. So again, I would like to understand what happened differently in the above ground conditions, and if we are actually experiencing some change in the geological expectation in Colombia as well.

Dana Coffield

Analyst

Yes, the big event in the second quarter with transportation is the fact that the OTA pipeline was actually down for a significant portion of the quarter due to a landslide. So there were fewer pipeline events, bombings or interruptions. But it was actually down for a long period of time because of a landslide. So there's -- and that -- those repairs are essentially finished now, and we're hoping that pipeline will be up and running again in the next week or so. And then, in parallel with that, the pipeline south that goes into Ecuador continues to be repaired due to the damaged pipeline crossing -- across the river, across the border. So you're correct, we had fewer pipeline events, but there was a long drawn out repair process for the landslide damage on OTA, which is just now coming to closure. Now in terms of your other question, I guess, related to changes in guidance in our geologic expectations, recovery expectations, there's really no change. The fields continue to perform very well. Moqueta's production is growing, Costayaco is essentially stable, our other smaller, I'll call them, more minor fields in Colombia are performing as expected. Caio M. Carvalhal - JP Morgan Chase & Co, Research Division: Okay. I understand. And if you'll allow me for just a follow-up question on what my colleagues have already questioned in Bretaña, just to see if I correctly understood it. We could expect the first [indiscernible] for the fourth quarter. I'm not sure if you have a more specific guidance, let's say, in November or -- and then you planned -- I mean you target a 6-month period of the long-term test. So it could be turning to development or to full development phase somewhere close to mid next year. When you turn to development, when you turn from the long-term test to development, can we expect some -- should we expect some disruption or temporary disruption in production? Or will you be able to transition or to continue to maintain production from this long-term test while you drill the other ones and then you would see a more -- most production growth? So these are questions on Bretaña.

Shane P. O'Leary

Analyst

There's a number of things we're going to do. For the long-term test with the original wellbore, we expect just under the regulations we can produce that for at least 1 year. But there is precedent in Peru to have long-term tests extended beyond the 1 year. And of course, we will be trying to get an extension on that, and because the Aquitos refinery is where our crude is being delivered, it's unlikely that the refinery is going to want to see their supply cutoff. So I think our chances are good. We'll have that extended. In addition to that, as Dana mentioned, we're doing this duolateral trial well. So we'll be drilling a well in 2015, that's a multilateral, and that will also qualify for a long-term test. So again, we have 6 months of -- with an extension of another 6 months. So we will be flowing that well for at least a year and, again, we will try and get extensions that go beyond that year. So you can see yourself through to 2016 beyond when at least we'll have some level of production and cash flow coming out of Peru. And then, you're starting to get into the pace of the main field development, which will take -- needs more definition, and we're still defining what that's going to look like. But there should be some -- a good chance of continuity of production from these early test wells through to main field development.

Operator

Operator

Mr. Coffield, there are no further questions at this time.

Dana Coffield

Analyst

I would like to, once again, thank everyone for joining us today. We look forward to speaking with you next quarter, and updating you on our progress. Thank you.