Alta Mesa: I look at this as a very early stage of development in the STACK
Alta Mesa’s President and CEO Hal Chappelle spoke to Oil & Gas 360®’s Angie Austin at the EnerCom conference in Denver last week. Chappelle talked about his company, what their development plans look like, and the efficiencies being generated from cost cutting to optimize returns.
Alta Mesa Holdings, LP is a privately held company engaged in onshore oil and gas acquisition, exploitation and production with a seasoned management team, whose mission is to maximize the profitability of our assets in a safe and environmentally sound manner. The company applies advanced engineering analyses and enhanced geological techniques to under-developed or over-looked conventional resource areas to create value. Alta Mesa employs disciplined management processes and have the flexibility to respond to the market. The company has a large, long-lived and diversified reserve base, with a substantial inventory of low risk development projects. Alta Mesa’s portfolio of assets has large components of liquids-rich gas and oil reservoirs. The company’s core producing assets are located in the Oklahoma Sooner Trend and in South Louisiana.
Interview Questions
- Hal, overall company production volumes of 20,200 BOE per day in the second quarter were up 6% compared to Q2 of last year. Production from your Sooner Trend STACK play assets was up by 45%, and your STACK production amounted to 60% of the company’s daily last quarter. Could you talk about your STACK assets and the ramp up of production, and what your plans are for the play going forward?
- Alta Mesa’s other producing asset is Weeks Island, Louisiana. Average daily production there in the second quarter was 3,900 BOE per day—90% oil. Can you talk about that asset, how you manage it, and your plans there?
- Hal, your production costs were down 10% for Q2 of 2016 compared to the 2015 second quarter. Do you expect costs to continue downward or are you getting close to bottoming out with cost cutting and efficiencies?
- How is Alta Mesa positioned to succeed, if we end up with an oil price in the forties that lasts, for example, through 2018?
- Hal, a key message you put forth going into 2016 was the focus on guarding the balance sheet and liquidity. Could you update us on those efforts?
Alta Mesa’s Breakout Notes from the 2016 EnerCom conference are available here
You can listen to Alta Mesa’s 2016 EnerCom presentation/webcast here
