Quarterly / Earnings Reports | Second Quarter (2Q) Update

Noble Energy Talks Q2 Results; Cuts 2019 Capex by $100MM

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   |    Friday,August 02,2019

Noble Energy, Inc. announced second quarter 2019 financial and operating results.

Cuts Capex by $100MM

The Company has lowered full-year capital and operating cost expectations due to year-to-date progress on cost initiatives. Full-year capital is now estimated $100 million less than original plan, primarily due to U.S. onshore capital reductions. For the third quarter, Noble Energy expects organic capital expenditures between $600 million and $675 million. As compared to the second quarter, U.S. onshore capital is estimated to be about $75 million lower, with offshore spend planned higher as a result of Leviathan installation and the Aseng development drilling and completion activity.

Highlights include:

• Organic capital expenditures funded by Noble Energy totaled $618 million, below the low end of guidance.
  • U.S. onshore well costs have been reduced more than 15% in both the DJ and Delaware Basins as compared to the fourth quarter 2018.
  • Offshore spend continues to trend below budget, primarily due to strong project execution at Leviathan.
• Unit production costs totaled $8.19 per BOE, below guidance, driven by U.S. onshore cost reductions and onshore and offshore production outperformance.
• Total Company sales volumes of 349 MBoe/d and U.S. onshore volumes of 263 MBoe/d exceeded guidance. Total oil volumes of 130 MBbl/d and U.S. onshore oil of 117 MBbl/d were also above plan.
• Quarterly production records were established for both the DJ and Delaware Basins.
  • Mustang IDP production in the DJ Basin reached more than 51 MBoe/d, net, following continued Row 2 development.
  • Delaware Basin production increased nearly 9% from the first quarter 2019.
• Progressed Leviathan to 88% complete, including finalizing construction of the production decks.

David L. Stover, Noble Energy's Chairman and CEO, commented, "Noble Energy continues to execute well on its strategy to deliver free cash flow through capital discipline and moderate growth. In the second quarter, capital and operating costs were again below plan, and production was above expectations. I've been very pleased with the capital efficiency gains in our U.S. onshore business, and we are delivering on a meaningful production ramp in the third quarter. This onshore momentum, combined with startup of the world-class Leviathan project by the end of the year, will result in a substantial transformation for the Company. Our competitively advantaged portfolio and leading execution capability position Noble Energy to deliver sustainable long-term free cash flow, improve corporate returns and return significant amounts of capital to investors."

Second Quarter 2019 Results

The Company reported a second quarter net loss attributable to Noble Energy of $10 million, or $0.02 per diluted share. Net income including noncontrolling interest was $8 million. Excluding items impacting comparability, the Company generated an adjusted net loss and adjusted net loss per share⁽¹⁾ attributable to Noble Energy for the quarter of $49 million, or $0.10 per diluted share. Adjusted EBITDAX⁽¹⁾ was $589 million, and cash provided by operating activities was $564 million.

Second quarter 2019 organic capital investments attributable to Noble Energy included $453 million related to U.S. onshore upstream activities and $23 million for midstream activities funded by the Company. Noble Energy also invested $119 million in the Eastern Mediterranean, primarily for the development of the Leviathan project, and $12 million in West Africa.

Revenues for the second quarter 2019 were benefited by strong production performance and realized oil pricing; while, along with the rest of the industry, natural gas pricing and natural gas liquids (NGL) realizations were lower than expected. The Company's U.S. onshore oil price averaged 98% of the West Texas Intermediate index (WTI) price for the quarter and U.S. onshore NGL pricing per barrel averaged 24% of WTI crude. The Company's natural gas price in the U.S. onshore averaged $1.61 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf) before hedge impacts, reflecting increased differentials in the DJ and Delaware Basins. In the second quarter, Noble Energy's basis hedges for Delaware Basin gas production generated nearly $5 million in additional cash flow or approximately $0.80 per Mcf.

Unit production expenses for the second quarter 2019 were $8.19 per barrel of oil equivalent (BOE), including lease operating expenses, production taxes, gathering and transportation expenses, and other royalty costs. Noble Energy continues to drive U.S. onshore production costs lower through workover and chemical cost optimization and fuel cost savings. Per barrel operating costs also benefited from higher production during the quarter. Depreciation, depletion and amortization was $16.64 per BOE and general and administrative expenses totaled $105 million for the quarter. Marketing and other expenses, including sales and costs of purchased oil and gas, netted to $24 million in the second quarter, primarily reflecting mitigation of firm transportation costs.

Income from equity method investees for the second quarter totaled $16 million, below guidance due to lower than anticipated methanol and LPG pricing. Midstream Services Revenue of $20 million for the quarter was primarily composed of Noble Midstream Partners L.P. gathering revenue from unaffiliated third parties.

The Company's effective tax rate, after excluding items impacting comparability of earnings to prior periods, was approximately 12%. On this basis, current tax expense was $17 million, resulting from the income generated in West Africa and Israel. Deferred taxes were a benefit of $21 million on this same basis.

The Company ended the second quarter 2019 with $4.4 billion in financial liquidity, including cash and available credit facility.

U.S. Onshore Inflection Point Underway

Well cost reductions in the U.S. onshore business are exceeding the 2019 guidance targets of up to $1 million per well in the DJ Basin and $1.5 million per well in the Delaware Basin. Completion stages performed per day are on average 50 percent higher than in late 2018, contributing to reduced well costs and accelerated first production for new wells. Spud to rig release drilling days continue to improve with the DJ Basin long laterals now below 5 drilling days per well, and in the Delaware Basin, the Company has recently drilled a 10-thousand-foot lateral well in under 17 days.

As a result of these efficiency gains, the Company was able to bring online an additional 17 wells in the first half of the year. Across the U.S. onshore portfolio, the Company operated 6 rigs (2 DJ and 4 Delaware) and drilled 42 wells (26 DJ and 16 Delaware) in the quarter. Noble Energy completed 59 wells (33 DJ, 17 Delaware, 9 Eagle Ford) and commenced production on 77 wells (36 DJ, 25 Delaware, 16 Eagle Ford).

Total sales volumes across the Company's U.S. onshore assets averaged a record 263 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day (MBoe/d) in the second quarter 2019. The U.S. onshore assets produced total liquids volumes of 181 thousand barrels per day (MBbl/d) of which oil production was 117 MBbl/d, also a record.

The DJ Basin averaged 145 MBoe/d, up 20% from the second quarter 2018, while continuing to generate operating cash flows in excess of capital expenditures. More than half of the Company's second quarter 2019 DJ Basin activity was focused in Mustang (55% of wells commencing production), with certain Wells Ranch and East Pony wells also commencing production. Sales volumes from the Company's Delaware Basin assets totaled 64 MBoe/d, up more than 35% from the second quarter 2018. During the quarter, the Company brought online a full section row development (10 wells) in the Calamity Jane lease in late June. Sales volumes from the Eagle Ford totaled 54 MBoe/d for the second quarter 2019, benefiting from accelerated production as the Company delivered 16 wells to first production. These Eagle Ford wells commenced production in June from the Company's North Gates Ranch area.

July 2019 production for the Company's U.S. onshore assets was approximately 285 MBoe/d, reflecting robust base and new well performance. U.S. onshore oil volumes for July 2019 were estimated to be 125 MBbl/d.

Leviathan Sets Sail with Production on Track for YE 2019

Delivery of the Leviathan project remains on budget and on schedule for first production by the end of 2019. The production decks have left the Gulf Coast fabrication yard for Israel. Due diligence on the EMG Pipeline was completed in the second quarter confirming pipeline integrity and flow capacity. Closing the acquisition of an interest in the EMG Pipeline, which supports sales into Egypt, is targeted in the third quarter 2019.

Second quarter 2019 sales volumes from the Company's assets in Israel totaled 210 million cubic feet of natural gas equivalent per day. Production was above plan due to high seasonal natural gas demand and lower than planned maintenance. Sales volumes for West Africa averaged 51 MBoe/d, including 13 MBbl/d of crude oil. Production volumes in Equatorial Guinea exceeded sales volumes in the second quarter by 4 MBbl/d and consequently, cargo liftings are expected to increase in the back half of the year. Drilling is ongoing at the Aseng oil field, where an additional development well will come online in the fourth quarter.

Updating Guidance for Lower Capital / Operating Costs, Higher Volumes

The Company has lowered full-year capital and operating cost expectations due to year-to-date progress on cost initiatives. Full-year capital is now estimated $100 million less than original plan, primarily due to U.S. onshore capital reductions. For the third quarter, Noble Energy expects organic capital expenditures between $600 million and $675 million. As compared to the second quarter, U.S. onshore capital is estimated to be about $75 million lower, with offshore spend planned higher as a result of Leviathan installation and the Aseng development drilling and completion activity.

Unit production expenses continue to trend favorably with full-year guidance lowered $0.15 per BOE.

All three U.S. onshore basins are expected to deliver higher third quarter 2019 volumes sequentially as a result of the count and timing of wells that began production during the second quarter. At the mid-point of guidance, U.S. onshore oil volumes are expected to increase 10 MBbl/d.

Internationally, third quarter 2019 sales volumes are also anticipated to be higher, benefiting from the timing of liquids liftings in West Africa and seasonal demand in Israel. The Company anticipates third quarter volumes to average in the range of 370 to 385 MBoe/d.

Following outperformance in the first half of the year, the Company has raised its full-year 2019 sales volume guidance.