Whiting Petroleum Corporation (NYSE: WLL) (“Whiting” or the “Company”) today announced that it has entered into two separate definitive agreements to acquire non-operated oil and gas assets in the Williston Basin of North Dakota. The Company also announced its 2022 capital, operating costs and production guidance, reflecting an operating plan focused on delivering sustainable free cash flow. The board of directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.25 per share of common stock to shareholders of record as of February 21, 2022.
Acquisitions
The assets are being acquired from two private companies for total cash consideration of $273 million, before typical closing adjustments. The assets are located in Mountrail County, North Dakota and increase the average operated working interest from 61% to 74% throughout Whiting’s Sanish field, impacting many of the drilling units included in the Company’s current 2022 development program. The assets include 14,563 net acres, 4 gross / 0.2 net drilled and uncompleted well interests, and 277 gross / 32 net undrilled locations. The Company expects to develop the undeveloped locations near term. The assets should contribute approximately 4,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day (BOE/d) (67% oil) at closing. The smaller transaction closed in the fourth quarter of 2021, and the larger acquisition is scheduled to close in the first quarter of 2022.
Lynn A. Peterson, President and CEO of Whiting commented, “These transactions continue the strategy we put forth beginning in late 2020. By increasing our working interest, we are immediately recognizing substantial cash flow that is accretive for shareholders. We know and understand the Sanish field extremely well and are very comfortable with the rate of return we are achieving.”
Outlook for Full-Year 2022
Whiting has set out a capital plan that includes operating two drilling rigs and one completion crew in the Williston Basin for the majority of 2022. The 2022 budget was designed with higher working interests and slightly greater activity. The Company encountered a delay on a five-well pad in January that will impact the timing of production until later in the year. While Whiting has shifted operations to the Sanish field, the Company’s continued focus on sustainability through increasing its high gas capture percentage will result in production volumes not entirely replacing those lost by the delay. The 2022 plan is to reinvest approximately 40% of the expected EBITDA for the period, which is consistent with the prior year. Low double-digit inflation has also been built into the projections.
The rigs will operate in Mountrail, McKenzie and Williams Counties, North Dakota. While the Company has had success with three-mile laterals in its Sanish field, Whiting plans to drill additional three-mile laterals further west in McKenzie County, North Dakota during the year which will help improve economics on additional inventory. As oil prices have rebounded, the Company is seeing increased non-operated activity from other operators and expects this trend to continue.
The following table provides guidance for the full-year 2022 based on current forecasts and includes the announced acquisitions.
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Full-Year Guidance 2022 |
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Production (MBOE per day) |
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91.0 |
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– |
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95.0 |
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Oil production (MBO per day) |
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52.0 |
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– |
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55.0 |
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Capital expenditures (MM) |
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$ |
360 |
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– |
$ |
400 |
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Lease operating expense (MM) (1) |
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$ |
275 |
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– |
$ |
300 |
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General and administrative cash expense (MM) (2) |
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$ |
40 |
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– |
$ |
50 |
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Oil price wellhead differential to NYMEX per Bbl (3) |
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$ |
(3.00 |
) |
– |
$ |
(4.00 |
) |
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1) |
Includes the Whiting USA Trust II assets that reverted to Whiting 12/31/2021 |
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2) |
Net of allocations to LOE and reimbursable costs and excludes non-cash equity compensation expense |
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3) |
Includes gathering, transportation and compression |
As a result of this updated guidance, and an assumed WTI oil price of $70 per barrel, the Company now expects to generate over $900 million of EBITDA and over $500 million of adjusted free cash flow in 2022.
Initiating Dividend
Whiting declared a $0.25 per share dividend for the first quarter of 2022 ($1.00/share annualized) for shareholders of record as of February 21, 2022, payable on March 15, 2022.
Peterson continued, “We executed on our strategy last year of paying down the revolving credit facility. With the expected sizable cash flow generation and the strength of the balance sheet, we believe this dividend payment is sustainable under significant commodity changes. Along with our acquisition of non-operated interests, the initiation of the dividend is the latest commitment to realize value and shareholder return. The capital plan this year leverages our low base decline and assets across the basin to continue delivering peer leading sustainable cash flow back to our shareholders.”
Fourth Quarter 2021 Conference Call
Whiting will host a conference call on Thursday, February 24, 2022 at 11:00 a.m. Eastern time (9:00 a.m. Mountain time) to discuss the fourth quarter 2021 results. The call will be conducted by President and Chief Executive Officer Lynn A. Peterson, Executive Vice President Finance and Chief Financial Officer James P. Henderson, Executive Vice President Operations and Chief Operating Officer Charles J. Rimer and Investor Relations Manager Brandon Day. A question and answer session will immediately follow the discussion of the results for the quarter.
To participate in this call please dial:
Domestic Dial-in Number: (877) 328-5506
International Dial-in Number: (412) 317-5422
Webcast URL : https://event.choruscall.com/mediaframe/webcast.html?webcastid=9BD9bizF
Replay Information:
Conference ID #: 4561404
Replay Dial-In (Toll Free U.S. & Canada): (877) 344-7529 (U.S.), (855) 669-9658 (Canada)
Replay Dial-In (International): (412) 317-0088
Expiration Date: March 03, 2022
About Whiting Petroleum Corporation
Whiting Petroleum Corporation, a Delaware corporation, is an independent oil and gas company engaged in the development, production and acquisition of crude oil, NGLs and natural gas primarily in the Rocky Mountains region of the United States. The Company’s largest projects are in the Bakken and Three Forks plays in North Dakota and Montana. The Company trades publicly under the symbol WLL on the New York Stock Exchange. For further information, please visit http://www.whiting.com .
Forward-Looking Statements
This news release contains statements that we believe to be “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. All statements other than historical facts, including, without limitation, statements regarding our projected production, cash flows, revenues, costs, capital expenditures and dividends, the effect of acquisitions and plans and objectives of management for future operations, are forward-looking statements. When used in this news release, words such as “guidance,” or “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “estimate,” “anticipate,” “believe” or “should” or the negative thereof or variations thereon or similar terminology are generally intended to identify forward-looking statements. The section “Outlook for Full Year 2022” in particular contains numerous forward-looking statements, but such statements occur in other sections of this news release as well. Such forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, such statements.
These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, risks associated with:
- declines in, or extended periods of low oil, NGL or natural gas prices;
- the occurrence of epidemic or pandemic diseases, including the coronavirus pandemic;
- actions of the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries and other oil exporting nations to set and maintain production levels;
- the impacts of hedging on our results of operations;
- regulatory developments, including the potential shutdown of the Dakota Access Pipeline and new or amended federal, state and local initiatives relating to the regulation of hydraulic fracturing, air emissions and other aspects of oil and gas operations that could have a negative effect on the oil and gas industry and/or increase costs of compliance;
- the geographic concentration of our operations;
- our inability to access oil and gas markets due to market conditions or operational impediments;
- adequacy of midstream and downstream transportation capacity and infrastructure;
- shortages of or delays in obtaining qualified personnel or equipment, including drilling rigs and completion services;
- adverse weather conditions that may negatively impact development or production activities;
- potential losses and claims resulting from our oil and gas operations, including uninsured or underinsured losses;
- lack of control over non-operated properties;
- cybersecurity attacks or failures of our telecommunication and other information technology infrastructure;
- revisions to reserve estimates as a result of changes in commodity prices, regulation and other factors;
- inaccuracies of our reserve estimates or our assumptions underlying them;
- impact of negative shifts in investor sentiment and public perception towards the oil and gas industry and corporate governance standards;
- climate change issues;
- litigation and other legal proceedings; and
- other risks described under the caption “Risk Factors” in Item 1A of our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the period ended December 31, 2020.
There can be no guarantee that we will pay additional dividends in the future. The board of directors’ decisions regarding future dividends will be based on legal, economic and other considerations the board considers relevant at the time such decisions are made. We assume no obligation, and disclaim any duty, to update the forward-looking statements in this news release.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20220208005605/en/
Brandon Day
Investor Relations Manager
303‑837‑1661
Brandond@whiting.com
