Quarterly / Earnings Reports | First Quarter (1Q) Update | Capital Markets | Capital Expenditure | Capital Expenditure - 2018

NuVista Touts Best Montney Well Ever; 16,000 FT Lateral Flowing 1,000 Bbls/d

Share Print Bookmark    |    Thursday,May 10,2018

  NuVista provided the following update for 1Q18.

Quick Read

Successfully drilled, completed and brought on stream the longest horizontal lateral well ever drilled in Canada at almost 3,000 Boe/d, including over 1,000 BBls/d of condensate.

Executed a successful $115 million capital expenditure program for the first quarter running three to four rigs and drilling 8 gross (8 net) successful wells in our Wapiti asset;

Achieved production of 36,100 Boe/d, at the top of the guidance range of 34,500 – 36,000 Boe/d and 35% greater than the comparative quarter in 2017. Condensate volume weighting remained similar to the prior year at 31% but decreased from the short term high of 35% for the fourth quarter of 2017

2018 Capital  and production guidance remains on changed at $270 - $310 million of capital  and 35,000 - 40,000 Boe/d of production.

About the best well.

The 5,000 metre (16,000 ft) well is the longest horizontal lateral well ever drilled in Canada. The wells were completed with high intensity fractures (HIFI), placing approximately 2 tonnes of sand per metre of horizontal length, a total of 88 fracture intervals in each well. The average drill and complete cost for each of these two wells was $14.5MM, or $164,000 per stage which is lower than our budgeted average for 2018.

Bilbo, Elmworth, and Gold Creek Update

Drilling at Bilbo during the quarter continued as planned with one to two rigs operating and wells being brought on stream to maintain production at or near 18,000 Boe/d. Pad sizes for new wells currently range from two to five wells per pad. Four new wells were brought onstream during the quarter, with average IP30’s of 1,972 Boe/d including 46% condensate, or 124 Bbls condensate per MMcf of raw gas. NuVista’s first Lower Montney well which started up at the end of 2017 continues to perform favorably. This quarter the well reached an IP90 condensate rate of 540 Bbls/d, an excellent outcome as compared to the average of all prior NuVista Middle Montney Bilbo wells at 550 Bbls/day condensate. The Bilbo compressor station is performing well, with indications of peak-day production capability as high as 20,000 Boe/d as compared to original nameplate capacity of 18,000 Boe/d.

One rig was deployed at Elmworth during the quarter, currently drilling a four-well pad. Production averaged 14,200 Boe/d for the quarter and is now being restricted to make room for the new Gold Creek wells which have come on stream.

At Gold Creek, volumes have now reached over 5,000 Boe/d. One to two rigs were active, drilling a delineation/expiry well in the North and a record length two-well pad in the South. Building upon the operational success from the last extended reach horizontal (ERH) pad at Gold Creek, the horizontal lengths achieved on these wells were 4,500 and 5,000 metres respectively. The 5,000 metre well is the longest horizontal lateral well ever drilled in Canada. The wells were completed with high intensity fractures (HIFI), placing approximately 2 tonnes of sand per metre of horizontal length, a total of 88 fracture intervals in each well. The average drill and complete cost for each of these two wells was $14.5MM, or $164,000 per stage which is lower than our budgeted average for 2018.

Production from Elmworth is being restricted in order to make room for these new wells which have been brought onstream for initial cleanup flow. We are very pleased to note that the first well has averaged 2,962 Boe/d including 1,056 Bbls/d condensate (condensate gas ratio of 87 Bbls/MMcf) over the first 24 days. The test is particularly encouraging in that gas rates and flowing pressures have been stable to increasing as the high rate of frac water flowback subsides. The upcoming IP90 and IP180 results for these wells will be better indicators of how the first-year capital efficiencies for these ERH wells compare with the historic average.

The Elmworth compressor stations are performing well, handling the production from both Elmworth and Gold Creek wells at the present time. Drilling continues in Elmworth to keep area production pushing up to and beyond nameplate levels, with 18,000+ Boe/d already achieved versus nameplate capacity of 19,000 Boe/d. Drilling in Gold Creek will resume later this year in advance of the startup of the new SemCAMS Wapiti gas plant in early-mid 2019. When the SemCams gas plant starts up, Gold Creek new and existing volumes will be directed there which will provide significant space for continued growth in both Elmworth and Gold Creek.