Quarterly / Earnings Reports | Second Quarter (2Q) Update
Berry Petroleum Talks Results from Q2 2019
Berry Petroleum Corp. reported net income of $32 million or $0.39 per diluted share and adjusted net income of $20 million or $0.25 per diluted share for the second quarter of 2019. In addition, the Board approved a regular $0.12 per share dividend for the third quarter of 2019.
Highlights for the Quarter
- Adjusted EBITDA of $63 million and Unhedged Adjusted EBITDA of $66 million
- Received Aquifer Exemption for California Midway-Sunset field; no regulatory hurdles remain
- 1.0 million shares repurchased; 3.6 million cumulative or 4% of total outstanding
- Capital Expenditures of $57 million with approximately 92% directed to California oil development
- Current California oil production is up over 1,300 Bbl/day or 6.5% compared to June
- Layered on additional 2020 oil hedges; approximately 12,000 Bbl/Day at $65.70/Bbl Brent
- Full-year production and spending are on track; no changes to guidance
Trem Smith, Berry Petroleum board chair, chief executive officer and president stated, "Berry continues to generate significant intrinsic value for our shareholders. We are always focused on protecting and growing our base production. As planned, the ongoing development of our California oil assets has positioned us to realize considerable value growth through production increases for the remainder of 2019 and beyond. In planning for this robust second half growth, we drilled 210 wells in the first half of the year, of which 133 of them will begin to contribute to production in the second half of the year. As our 6.5% growth in current production indicates, some have already started to contribute. In fact, current California production has substantially increased compared to June and we expect to see this continue through the remainder of the year.
"Since going public a year ago, Berry has declared $47 million in dividends; repurchased 4% of its shares and grown California production by 11% over the past twelve months. This has been done from our free cash flow. At Berry, we will continue to execute as promised, always managing to value and returning capital to shareholders as key components to our strategy."
Second Quarter Results
Adjusted EBITDA, on an unhedged basis, was $66 million in the second quarter compared to $54 million in the first quarter. Relative to the first quarter, the second quarter had higher oil prices and lower operating expenses largely due to lower fuel costs, partially offset by higher taxes other than income taxes. Additionally, the decrease in Adjusted EBITDA, on a hedged basis, from $69 million in the first quarter compared to $63 million in the second quarter includes the impact of lower oil hedge settlements received and higher gas hedge settlement payments.
Actual production was 1% higher in the second quarter compared to the first quarter. Sales volumes, which includes the impact of inventory fluctuations, was 1% lower quarter-over-quarter, due to selling of inventory in the Rockies in the first quarter.
California oil prices before hedges for the second quarter averaged 93% of Brent, or $63.91/Bbl which were 8% higher than the $59.16/Bbl realized in the first quarter. Realized oil prices for the Company before hedges of $61.69/Bbl were 8% higher than the first quarter average of $56.88/Bbl.
For the second quarter, Operating Expenses ("OpEx") decreased to $20.38/Boe compared to $21.71/Boe in the first quarter. This decrease was largely driven by the price of natural gas we purchased for our steam operations during the second quarter, which decreased by $6.86/Boe, partially offset by settled gas hedge losses which increased by $2.93/Boe. OpEx consists of lease operating expenses ("LOE"), as well as expenses and third-party revenues from electricity generation, transportation and marketing activities and the effect of derivative settlements (received or paid) for gas purchases while excluding taxes other than income taxes.
General and administrative expenses were $16.2 million for the second quarter compared to $14.3 million for the first quarter. The second quarter was affected by higher non-cash stock compensation associated with the annual grant of stock awards in March. Adjusted general and administrative expenses were $4.92/Boe for the second quarter compared to $4.63/Boe for the first quarter primarily due to organizational growth and system enhancements.
Taxes, other than income taxes were $4.54/Boe for the second quarter compared to $3.23/Boe in the first quarter, due to higher greenhouse gas unit costs and the impact of severance tax refunds in the first quarter.
Capital expenditures totaled $57 million for the second quarter compared to $49 million for the first quarter and was largely focused on California drilling in both periods. The 2019 capital program was front-end loaded resulting in more wells drilled in the first half of the year than the amount expected to be drilled in the second half. The Company expects that a significant portion of the 210 wells drilled in the first six months of 2019 will generate robust growth in the last half of the year as they come online or realize the full effects of steam injection.
Net income for the second quarter 2019 was $32 million compared to a net loss of $34 million in the first quarter and this difference was largely driven by derivative mark-to-market changes. Adjusted net income was $20 million for the second quarter compared to $24 million for the first quarter of 2019. The decrease was due to the same factors affecting Adjusted EBITDA.
At July 31, our liquidity under our $400 million reserve-based revolver was $371 million as we had $9 million of outstanding letters of credit and borrowed $20 million on our revolver to fund monthly working capital fluctuations and the $11 million spent on share repurchases during the second quarter. The Company expects to have no revolver borrowings by year-end.
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