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WPX Energy Second Quarter 2020 Results

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   |    Wednesday,July 29,2020

WPX Energy reported its Q2 2020 results.

WPX reported an unaudited second-quarter loss from continuing operations attributable to common shareholders of $414 million, or a loss of $0.74 per share on a diluted basis.

Highlights:

• Hedging strategy provides certainty, stability
• Cutting capital by $50 million; still targeting oil exit rate of 140,000 bbl/d at Dec. 31
• Now expecting approximately $200 million of free cash flow in 2020
• WPX completion design yields 35% improvement on Felix pad
• 2Q oil volumes were 123,700 bbl/d after curtailments of ~20,000 bbl/d
• Nearly 60,000 bbl/d of oil hedged at over $40 per bbl for 2021

The loss was driven by a $275 million net loss on derivatives primarily from non-cash forward mark-to-market changes in the company’s hedge book and lower overall commodity prices. As underlying forward commodity prices began to improve in the quarter, the value of hedging contracts was reduced from levels recorded at March 31.

Excluding the forward mark-to-market changes in derivatives and other items, WPX posted adjusted net income from continuing operations (a non-GAAP financial measure) in second-quarter 2020 of $69 million, or income of $0.12 per share. A reconciliation accompanies this press release.

Adjusted EBITDAX (a non-GAAP financial measure) hit a record $400 million in the quarter, up 15 percent from $347 million a year ago. A reconciliation accompanies this press release.

Cash flow from operations – inclusive of hedge impact – was $276 million in the second quarter, down 24 percent vs. a year ago due in part to significant decreases in commodity prices and working capital changes.

The weighted average gross sales price during second-quarter 2020 – prior to revenue deductions – was $21.85 per barrel for oil (down 62 percent vs. a year ago), $1.40 per Mcf for natural gas (down 20 percent) and $7.65 per barrel for NGL (down 44 percent).

Free cash flow from operations (a non-GAAP financial measure) in the second quarter was $166 million. A reconciliation accompanies this press release. WPX now expects to generate approximately $200 million of free cash flow in 2020, up from its prior estimate of $150 million.

Outlook

For the remainder of 2020, WPX has 91,700 bbl/d of oil hedged with fixed price swaps at a weighted average price of $53.05 per barrel and 20,000 bbl/d with fixed price collars at a weighted average floor price of $53.33.

For 2021, WPX now has 59,878 bbl/d of oil hedged with fixed price swaps at a weighted average price of $40.78 per barrel and 240,000 MMBtu/d of natural gas hedged with fixed price swaps at a weighted average price of $2.62 per MMBtu.

Consistent with a scenario WPX outlined in its first-quarter slide deck, the company plans to exit the year at 140,000 bbl/d of oil. Most of the planned completions in the back half of the year are scheduled to occur in the fourth quarter.

WPX completed 12 wells in the second quarter prior to releasing all four of its completion crews. In July, the company redeployed one crew in the Delaware Basin and one in the Williston Basin. WPX plans to add one more frac crew in the Delaware Basin near the end of August.

WPX now expects total capital spending of $1,050 to $1,150 million this year, down another $50 million from the most recent target. Total capital spending in the first half of 2020 was $501 million, including $188 million in the second quarter following a pullback in activity.

The company could maintain the same level of oil production in 2021 – approximately 140,000 bbl/d – with an estimated maintenance capital budget of $800 to $850 million next year and generate approximately $200 million of free cash flow at current commodity prices.

WPX remains committed to implementing a dividend. Given the ongoing economic uncertainty related to the pandemic, the company continues to evaluate the appropriate timing for initiation.

Rick Muncrief, chairman and chief executive officer, said: “Our proactive risk mitigation strategy that included work on bolstering our balance sheet and building an industry-leading hedge book gives us flexibility, revenue certainty and stability in our development program against the unusual backdrop caused by COVID-19.

“This operational continuity benefits us not only in 2020, but in 2021 and 2022 as we think about the cadence of how to optimize our resources, manage capital requirements and enhance our free cash flow capabilities.

“For the quarter, our adjusted EBITDAX and free cash flow highlight the strength of our assets, our disciplined approach to risk management, and our thoughtful ability to work through challenges.

“We also added hedges for our 2021 oil volumes, proactively reshaped our debt towers, and showed improved performance on our new Felix assets by adjusting the completion design.

“I’m grateful for our resilient employees and service providers who quickly and safely ramped down activity and stayed ready to get back to work. Our teams are a differentiating factor in our success,” Muncrief added.

Ops Summary

Delaware Basin

WPX’s Delaware production in the Permian averaged 143.7 Mboe/d in the second quarter compared with 117.5 Mboe/d in the most recent quarter and 96.6 Mboe/d a year ago.

Prior to the release of frac crews, WPX completed eight Delaware wells during the second quarter including the six-well Huerfano pad associated with the Felix acquisition.

WPX began applying its own frac design to two of the wells on the Huerfano pad, making incremental changes to Felix’s design. The wells completed with the WPX design outperformed the others by 35 percent over 50 days at a lower cost. The WPX design has fewer stages, longer stage lengths, additional clusters per stage and tighter spacing between clusters.

The changes were only applied to the frac design. WPX continued to use Felix’s same progressive choke opening schedule, or slowback strategy, with regard to flowback. WPX will continue to monitor results and conduct more tests.

WPX’s average cost for drilling and completing a 2-mile Delaware well is down 35 percent from an average of $1,229 per foot in 2018 to $800 per foot for the second half of 2020. The current cost reflects a blend of the company’s legacy Stateline operations and its new Felix assets.

Williston Basin production averaged 63.3 Mboe/d in second-quarter 2020 compared with 79.5 Mboe/d in the most recent quarter and 63.0 Mboe/d a year ago.

Prior to the release of frac crews, WPX completed the four-well Meadowlark pad in the Williston during the second quarter.

The highest 24-hour rate for the Meadowlark wells was 3,466 Boe/d (88 percent oil) on the 6-34 HW well, followed by 3,316 Boe/d (89 percent oil) on the 6-34 HB well. Thirty-day rates and cumulative volumes were impacted by decisions to shut in production during the quarter.

WPX is monitoring the availability of the Dakota Access Pipeline following a federal judge’s order to idle the line pending an environmental impact statement. WPX is taking additional mitigation measures to reduce its exposure to basis differentials for its Williston oil volumes.

2Q Production

Total production volumes of 207.0 Mboe/d in second-quarter 2020 increased 5 percent vs. first-quarter 2020 and were 30 percent higher than the same period a year ago. Liquids volumes accounted for 77 percent of second-quarter 2020 production.

Oil volumes of 123,700 bbl/d in second-quarter 2020 were 1 percent higher vs. first-quarter 2020 and 26 percent higher than the same period a year ago. This reflects the benefit of volumes from the acquisition of Felix Energy in March despite curtailments in the quarter.

Second-quarter production was impacted by curtailments and shut-ins as WPX protected the value of its resources in response to rapid decreases in pricing and demand associated with the pandemic and other factors.

Approximately 20,000 bbl/d of oil were curtailed in the quarter, with a peak of roughly 30,000 bbl/d in May. WPX began bringing production back online in June as market conditions started improving.

Total capital spending in second-quarter 2020 was $188 million, predominantly from $173 million in D&C activity for operated wells and $3 million for midstream infrastructure.

Financial Summary

Most of WPX’s primary expense categories all declined in second-quarter 2020 on a per-Boe basis and an actual basis vs. a year ago due to the pullback in activity, production that was shut-in and overall efforts to reduce costs.

The lone exception was gathering, processing and transportation costs, which increased by $5 million over first-quarter 2020. These costs are more fixed in nature and also included the addition of a contract associated with the company’s purchase of Felix Energy.

For the first half of 2020, WPX posted a net loss from continuing operations attributable to common shareholders of $622 million, including a $594 million gain on derivatives that was more than offset by a nearly $1 billion impairment to the book value of WPX’s assets in the Williston Basin.

For the first half of 2020, WPX posted adjusted net income from continuing operations of $99 million, or income of $0.19 per share, up from $59 million for the same period in 2019. A reconciliation accompanies this press release.

Adjusted EBITDAX (a non-GAAP financial measure) for the first half of 2020 rose 17 percent to $779 million vs. the same period a year ago. A reconciliation accompanies this press release.

WPX’s total liquidity at the close of business on June 30, 2020, was approximately $1.9 billion, including cash, cash equivalents and all of its $1.5 billion available revolver capacity.

During the quarter, WPX issued $500 million in new 5.875 percent Senior Notes due in 2028. A portion of the proceeds from this offering were used to retire approximately $369 million of Senior Notes due in 2022, 2023 and 2024 through a tender offer that settled after the quarter closed.