Q3 2024 Berry Corp Earnings Call
Welcome to the Barrier Corporation Q3 2024 Earnings Call. At this time, all speakers are in a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question and answer session.
To ask a question during the session, you will need to press star 1 1 on your telephone.
You will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star 1, 1 again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would now like to hand the conference over to your first speaker today, Todd Crabtree, Investor Relations. Please go ahead.
Todd Crabtree: Thank you, Corinne, and welcome everyone. And thank you for joining us for Barry's third quarter 2024 earnings conference call. Earlier today, Barry issued an earnings release highlighting 2024 third quarter results and other exciting developments.
Todd Crabtree: Speaking this morning will be Fernando Araujo, Barry's Chief Executive Officer, Danielle Hunter, our President, and Mike Helm, our Chief Financial Officer.
Speaker Change: Before we begin, I would like to call your attention to the Safe Harbor language found in our earnings release that was issued this morning.
Speaker Change: The release and today's discussion contain certain projections and other forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements.
Speaker Change: These include risks and other factors outlined in our filings with the SEC, including ARC-10Q, which will be filed shortly.
Our Investor Relations website, ir.bry.com, has a link to the earnings release, an investor deck aligned with this call, SEC filings, and our most recent investor presentation.
Any information, including forward-looking statements, made on this call or contained in the earnings release and those presentations, reflects our analysis as of the date made. We have no plans or duty to update them except as required by law.
Speaker Change: Please refer to the tables in our earnings release and on our website for a reconciliation between all adjusted measures mentioned in today's call and related gap measures. We will also post the replay link of this call and the transcript on our website. I will now turn the call over to Fernando.
Thanks, Todd. Welcome, everyone, and thank you for joining us.
Fernando: In addition to covering some of the operational highlights for the third quarter, including recent results in California and Utah that surpassed expectations,
Todd Crabtree: We have exciting news to report about our successful debt refinancing and our plans to unlock the significant value we are seeing in the Uinta Basin.
Todd Crabtree: We are excited about the road ahead and the value creation levers we have.
Todd Crabtree: First, turning to our third quarter performance, we delivered strong financial and operational results as we remained focused on optimizing our operations and managing our world-class assets at their highest health.
Todd Crabtree: safety and environmental standards all in an effort to drive sustainable free cash flow, maintain a healthy balance sheet and generate long-term shareholder value.
Todd Crabtree: Total production for the quarter averaged 24,800 barrels of oil equivalent per day, a slight decrease from the prior quarter mainly due to the timing of connecting new wells to production in our midway sunset field.
Todd Crabtree: These roles were put online at the end of the quarter with production increasing as we exited Q3 and this operational momentum continues.
Todd Crabtree: As a result, we are on track to reach the midpoint of a full year production guidance and once again demonstrate our proven ability to sustain production levels year over year.
Todd Crabtree: Year-to-date, we have drilled a total of 48 wells, including 10 new wells in California. Production from our drilling activity has exceeded expectations.
Todd Crabtree: We are excited about the exceptional results from the sidetrack wells drilled in the Thermal Dynamite Reservoir, which are yielding returns greater than 100%.
Todd Crabtree: These returns underscore the quality of our world-class California athletes and the strength of our technical teams.
Todd Crabtree: whose experience and expertise have consistently created value. We have significant running room for similar sidetrack activity in 2025 and beyond, and these permits have continued to be available.
Todd Crabtree: For the past six years, we have been able to achieve our goal of maintaining stable production year-over-year, net of divestments.
despite the challenging and the changing regulatory and permitting environment.
Todd Crabtree: We have done so by drilling new wells and sidetracks and performing workovers, all of which are capital-efficient, high-return activities.
Todd Crabtree: As we plan for 2025, based on current permitting processes and our healthy California inventory, we are confident that we can continue to successfully execute this strategy, maintain production for the next few years while generating sustainable free cash flow.
Todd Crabtree: Switching gears, we have signed a new commitment for a $545 million term loan credit facility that will enable Barry to redeem all of our outstanding notes that are due in February 2026.
and replace our current RBL facility that matures next year.
Todd Crabtree: This refinancing marks a pivotal moment in our company's journey and positions us well to pursue strategic opportunities and drive long-term shareholder value.
Mike will share more details in this momentarily.
Todd Crabtree: Finally, I want to update you on our Uinta Basin opportunity that continues to build momentum and we believe has the potential to drive significant value for years to come.
Todd Crabtree: These wells are producing from the prolific Jutland Butte Reservoir, which is one of several reservoirs being targeted for horizontal well development in the basin.
Todd Crabtree: Also, we just signed a second farming agreement covering nearly 5,800 gross acres and currently contemplating around 12 horizontal wells.
Todd Crabtree: The first two wells should be online by year-end, and the remainder will be drilled in 2025 and 2026.
Todd Crabtree: Among other benefits, these two farmlands help accelerate the appraisal of our nearly 100,000 acres, which is almost entirely held by production.
Todd Crabtree: In addition to the performance of those farming wells, increased activity by our neighbors across the basin and adjacent to our existing acreage confirms the significant value potential in our Utah acreage.
Todd Crabtree: As a result, we are actively evaluating potential JV partners to help accelerate the development with horizontal wells.
Todd Crabtree: who would likely begin by drilling two multi-well paths starting in 2025.
We have a unique low-cost advantage position in Utah.
Todd Crabtree: We are in the shallow end of the basin with no additional entry cost.
Todd Crabtree: And we have significant infrastructure in place, including access to fuel gas that would lower drilling and completion costs, which will further drive long-term capital deficiencies.
Todd Crabtree: In sum, I want to emphasize that the opportunity and value potential we see in Utah has increased significantly over the last few months.
Todd Crabtree: There's still a lot of work ahead of us to delineate and realize the full potential of this asset. However, based on what we know today, we believe Utah could, over the long term, be a transformational value creator that would accrete directly to our shareholders.
Todd Crabtree: With that, let me turn it over to Dani. Thanks, Fernando. Good morning, everyone. As mentioned earlier, we have been and continue to be granted permits in California for sidetracks and rework, as well as new drills in areas with CEQA compliance.
Speaker Change: Although we're still finalizing our 2025 plan, I can share that we already have in hand approximately one-third of the permits necessary to complete our entire 2025 California Drilling Program.
Todd Crabtree: Based on that inventory and current permitting processes, and with our healthy portfolio of development inventory, we have clear line of sight to maintain stable production through 2026 at least.
Todd Crabtree: Turning to our methane reduction goals, earlier this year we announced our commitment to reduce these emissions by 80 percent compared to a 2022 baseline by the end of 2025.
Todd Crabtree: I am happy to announce that we have already achieved this significant goal.
Todd Crabtree: Thanks to the efforts of our dedicated operations teams over the course of this year, we were able to complete this initiative over a year ahead of schedule.
Todd Crabtree: I want to highlight that in addition to the important environmental benefits, this $2.5 million investment to replace gas-powered pneumatic devices, primarily in Utah, is expected to save the company over $2.9 million in 2024 waste emission charges alone.
Todd Crabtree: Taking into account the IRA is escalating fee structure and entering 2025 with 80% lower emissions than we entered 2024, that return will be multifold in future years.
Todd Crabtree: powered by our core values and commitment to be a responsible and sustainable producer of ample, safe, reliable, and affordable energy.
Todd Crabtree: We will continue to look for additional ways to reduce our GHG emissions, minimize our environmental impact, and improve the ways in which we operate by investing in economical solutions and embracing practices that generate results.
I'll now turn the call over to Mike.
Mike Helm: Thank you, Danny. I will highlight a few financial takeaways from another good quarter. For more in-depth information, please refer to our earnings release issued earlier this morning and our 10-Q to be filed shortly. I will also provide additional details on our capital structure and the shareholder return model.
Well, let's begin with the results.
Todd Crabtree: Realized crude prices were down 7% at $72.40 per barrel for the quarter, and this price represented 92% of Brent, contributing the total commodity revenue of $154 million.
Todd Crabtree: lease operating expense, net of gas hedges decreased by approximately 2% for the third quarter and adjusted G&A was down 3% compared to Q2. All of this contributed to adjusted EBITDA of 67 million dollars for the third quarter.
Todd Crabtree: As we have talked about on prior calls, our capital expenditure cadence was expected to peak in the middle of the year, due primarily to development activity in California and the second quarter Utah Farm End Development Program.
Todd Crabtree: Aligned with that guidance, CapEx in Q3 was $26 million, which was $16 million lower than Q2, and brings year-to-date capital expenditures to $85 million.
Todd Crabtree: We expect to remain within our CapEx guidance of between $95 and $110 million for the year.
Todd Crabtree: Operating cash flow was $71 million in the third quarter, which was flat with the second quarter.
Todd Crabtree: Free cash flow was $45 million for Q3, an increase of 55% over Q2 due to the expected reduction in capital expenditures.
Todd Crabtree: As we look towards 2025, we're really focused on strengthening our balance sheet, developing our world-class assets, and driving shareholder value. Let me discuss our actions to continue advancing these objectives.
Speaker Change: Starting with the balance sheet. As Fernando mentioned, we have signed a new 545 million dollar term loan credit facility that will allow us to pay off all 400 million dollars outstanding of our 2026 notes and replace our current RBL facility that is due August of 25.
Speaker Change: We're working to put in place a new RBL facility, but the new term loan provides the capacity and delay draw capabilities that would more than cover our liquidity needs should we decide to forego the new RBL facility.
Todd Crabtree: The new term loan facility has an initial three-year term with options to extend for up to two additional years, which could extend the maturity to 2029.
Todd Crabtree: Key terms of the agreement include the ability to have a long-term capital plan consistent with our focus on disciplined capital deployment into high rate of return projects while reducing our leverage ratios.
Todd Crabtree: Importantly, the unique structure provides us with the flexibility to repay the loan in advance, pursue strategic opportunities, and return capital to shareholders.
Todd Crabtree: In connection with our new refinancing, we are transitioning to a new capital allocation approach that balances returning capital to our shareholders at a sustainable level while reducing our overall debt and leverage ratios.
Todd Crabtree: Accordingly, beginning this quarter, our go-forward dividend policy targets a fixed dividend rate of 12 cents per share annually. As announced in the earnings release, the board has declared a 3 cent per share fixed dividend for the third quarter of 2024.
Todd Crabtree: Now, I'll turn the call back over to Fernando for his closing comments. Thanks, Mike. In closing, our performance this year has been strong. We delivered solid results quarter after quarter from our base business while undertaking a number of initiatives that we believe will drive long-term value.
Fernando Araujo: I am really proud of our teams and the great work they have done to advance new development opportunities while tightly managing our costs and enhancing operational efficiencies.
Fernando Araujo: Because of them, we are stronger, more resilient, and better positioned to capitalize on the opportunities now in front of us.
Fernando Araujo: We are excited about the significant long-term potential for both production growth and transformational value creation from our Utah assets.
Fernando Araujo: With the success of our initial Uintah Basin Empowerment Program, a second one underway, and the possibility of a JV to accelerate development, we have a lot of positive momentum entering 2025.
Fernando Araujo: We are also excited about the promising upside opportunities in California. We truly operate world-class assets. Not many fields under development for 100 years can still generate 100% rate of return projects like we can in California.
I found one of...
Fernando Araujo: The world is amongst the best field development economics I have seen.
Fernando Araujo: 2024 will be another year of solid operational and financial performance. We have created exceptional teams with a proven track record of delivering results.
Fernando Araujo: The state and the state is set for us to continue this momentum and drive shareholder value in the future.
Speaker Change: And with that, I will now turn the call over to the operator for questions.
Thank you.
Speaker Change: At this time, we will conduct the question and answer session. As a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star, 1, 1 on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced.
Speaker Change: Our first question comes from Charles Mead of Johnson Rice. Your line is now open.
Good morning, Fernando, Danielle and Mike.
of your Uintah Basin position with the new farm out.
Speaker Change: I can see how you'd be de-risking as you go to the West. I think that the picture makes it clear, but I wondered if you could talk more about how this second farm out came together.
Speaker Change: You know, what the, what, whether, you know, this is the kind of thing that you explicitly
Speaker Change: you know, sought out to try to de-risk the Western, Western
Speaker Change: Wester Hagerger, or if it came with together some other way, and also with two wells that are supposed to be on before year end.
Speaker Change: I guess I'm not seeing the dollars for that in your capital budget, but maybe I'm missing something there.
Speaker Change: Charles, very good question and thanks again for listening and looking through all the information that we posted.
Speaker Change: And yes, you know, in order to accelerate the appraisal phase and in order to de-risk our acreage, we're looking at different potential opportunities and farming is one of them.
Speaker Change: As you know, we have a significant land base in Utah, 100,000 acres, which is very interesting.
Speaker Change: And it has huge potential, as we've said. And we entered into this additional farming with WEM.
Speaker Change: Wasatch Energy Management and they're the ones that we've worked with them before and they're a basin leader and in this particular farming what we're doing is we're combining nine sections total of about 5,800 acres
Speaker Change: to be able to drill, you know, 12 wells over the next, essentially, 24 months.
Speaker Change: and the first two wells will be put online in the...
Speaker Change: at the, before the end of the year, and it is incorporated into our capital outlook. At the end of the day, if you look at what we're doing, again, we're accelerating our development, we're de-risking our acreage, and in this particular farming, our working interest is about 16%.
So the capital requirement is not huge.
Speaker Change: got it that that's that's a critical a critical metric there that's that 16% it makes sense when you look at kind of the the two
the two sections it looks like you're contributing there.
Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Speaker Change: And the second question, going back to the California assets, you know, you highlighted the thermal diatomite in your press release and again in your prepared comments, Fernando. But I'm curious, you know, you guys have had a lot of success with thermal diatomite over the last, you know, I think it's probably been, you know, two years, at least two years ago you started talking about it as a key.
Speaker Change: is a key piece of your California asset there, or the program there.
Speaker Change: Is there something different that's happened just this last quarter? Is this a step change or is this just a continuation of results that you just want to highlight here?
Speaker Change: You know, as I've mentioned before, the thermal diatomite is a great asset. It truly is a world-class asset. In terms of oil in place, it's amongst the highest oil-in-place-per-acre reservoirs in the world.
Speaker Change: So there's huge potential in the thermodiatomite. Before this year, up to the end of 2023,
Speaker Change: And for the last basically four years before that, we're actually able to increase production of the thermodiatomite asset by 19%, which is by enhancing our steaming injection strategy and by doing workovers and recompletions, which is great. It just tells you the quality of the reservoir.
Speaker Change: But since this year, we started site tracking, so we, you know, the wells that we put online at the end of the quarter, at the end of Q3, a group of those wells were thermo-diatomite wells, about 20 of them.
Speaker Change: And those are the first sidetracks in the thermal diatomite that we've done with excellent results, again, rates of return exceeding 100%.
Speaker Change: and we've got more of an inventory and that's gonna be drilled in 2025. And we're excited about the thermal diatomite just on the sidetrack front. And then outside of that, obviously we've got a lot of new well potential as well.
Speaker Change: So the sidetracks are delivering something that just the workovers and the adjusting the steam production wasn't doing for you. Is that the right understanding?
Speaker Change: And again, by adjusting steam production and doing workovers, we were able to increase the production in our asset by 19% over essentially four years. This is just enhancing that, this is just improving that production. So everything is very economic and everything is contributing to enhanced production in thermoatomy.
Thank you for that detail.
and the other one.
Thank you. One moment for our next question.
Speaker Change: As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star 1 1 on your telephone. Our next question comes from Michael Schwartz of Jeffreys. Your line is now open.
Hi, Barry. Thanks for having me have a question today.
Speaker Change: Can you walk me through kind of uses of cash priority following the term loan and the dividend change?
Speaker Change: Yeah, Michael, as you can see in the release, we have adjusted our allocation of available cash.
Speaker Change: First of all, part of the allocation is driven by being in compliance with the terms of the term loan. But I think more importantly, one of the things this does is this term loan allows us to deliver the balance sheet over time.
Speaker Change: And the other thing that is important to us is we still have the ability and intent to maintain a dividend rate that's really more in line with our peers. Previously, our dividend rate was
Speaker Change: significantly exceeded most of the peer group that we look at, so the dividend rate is more in line with the peers. And part of what we're trying to achieve there is
Speaker Change: You know, kind of building on the excitement that Fernando talked about with the opportunities in Utah is make sure that we have the appropriate ability to allocate capital, you know, in a disciplined way, but to our high development opportunities in both Utah and California.
Speaker Change: So we do have a kind of a change in the capital allocation approach.
Speaker Change: Makes sense to me. My second question was, could you give an update on CUP and multi-basin drill permits? Are you expecting any of those to come through in 2025 and what kind of impact should we see from that?
Speaker Change: Now, in terms of permits, you know, we are currently getting permits for sidetrack activity, for workover activity, and for new wells in areas with PARA-CEQA approval. Based on the inventory level that we have in those categories,
initially for 2025.
Speaker Change: Our plan is obviously going to be focused on those activities, on those type of drilling activities and workovers. It's not going to be reliant on the EIR process.
Speaker Change: And at the same time, we are following and looking for additional options, and one of those options is the conditional use permit category that you mentioned in specific fields.
Speaker Change: But the timing for that is still going to be about 18 months away.
Speaker Change: But independent of that, we've got enough inventory to be able to keep production essentially flat for next year and the year to come just with work over activity, work overs, and new welds in areas with prior CEQA approval.
Makes sense. Thank you.
Thank you. One moment for our next question.
Speaker Change: Our next question comes from Jay Spencer of Stifle. Your line is now open.
Jay Spencer: Hi. Thanks for taking my question. My questions are mainly around the $545 million term loan.
Speaker Change: Could you just give me a sense of where you are, the timing of that, and has that closed? And if not, can you kind of indicate when that might occur?
Speaker Change: Yeah, happy to take that question. It is effective. We actually signed the effectiveness papers. We have a commitment that was signed yesterday.
Speaker Change: Part of the reason that we didn't close it right away was trying to get through the finalization of those terms.
Speaker Change: and give us an opportunity to put together an RBL. We have discussions ongoing with banks, including a potential lead bank.
Speaker Change: But I think it's important to, so those discussions are going on right now, but it's important to note that the term loan provides us with the liquidity that it's really our choice whether or not to put together the RBL.
Speaker Change: We have the liquidity to close out on on the term loan That would kind of basically supplant kind of what we would need on on an RBL The goal is to have all this done well in advance of the end of this year
Got it. Okay. Thank you.
Speaker Change: If you do get a new RBL, would the $545 million commitment decrease or do you know yet?
Speaker Change: No, if we knew, yes, it would. Sorry, it would decrease kind of dollar for dollar. We're looking at a
Speaker Change: It really comes in two tranches. There's a 450 million dollar term loan on day one once it closes and then a 95 million dollar liquidity component. If we get the RBL at 95 million dollars that would replace the 95 million dollar commitment on the term loan.
Speaker Change: Got it, understood, understood. And then the tourmaline piece, I guess the 450 million dollars, is that, would that amortize?
Yes, it's got a 10% per year amortization.
Speaker Change: Okay, all right, that's all I had. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Speaker Change: Thank you. Again, as a reminder, to ask a question, you will need to press star 1 1 on your telephone.
Speaker Change: This concludes the question and answer session. I would now like to turn it back to Fernando Araujo for closing remarks.
Fernando Araujo: Yeah, thank you very much for listening and as you heard we continue to be very excited about Barry and Barry's future and we'll see you on the road here in the next few weeks. Thank you very much.
Speaker Change: Thank you for your participation in today's conference. This does conclude the program. You may now disconnect.