CALGARY — After a recent spree of large-scale transactions cementing it as the dominant player in two major North American petroleum plays, Crescent Point Energy Corp. says it is done with buying and selling assets for the near future.
On a conference call with analysts to discuss the company's first-quarter financial results Friday, CEO Craig Bryksa said the Calgary-based oil and gas company is happy with its current portfolio.
"We're going to take a good long pause as far as the acquisitions. We're happy with how things have come together here," Bryksa said.
"I wouldn't look for any near-term dispositions, further upstream dispositions, either."
Crescent Point has been one of the most active Canadian oil and gas companies in recent years on the mergers and acquisitions front, as it sought to restructure its portfolio of assets to focus on the Montney region of northwest Alberta and the adjacent Kaybob Duvernay shale gas play.
Among its acquisitions were the 2021 purchase of Shell Canada's Kaybob Duvernay assets for $900 million, the 2023 purchase of Spartan Delta Corp.'s Montney assets for $1.7 billion and the purchase of Hammerhead Energy Corp.'s Montney assets for $2.55 billion shortly after that.
Crescent Point has been selling off assets in North Dakota, Saskatchewan and other parts of Alberta to support its new geographic strategy. Earlier this week, the company announced it had signed a $600-million deal to sell some of its oil-producing properties in Saskatchewan to Saturn Oil & Gas.
The Montney and Kaybob Duvernay are where Crescent Point sees its greatest opportunity, and Bryksa said he is pleased with the progress in those regions.
Year-to-date, he said Crescent Point has brought 18 Montney wells on-stream, and is working to optimize drilling and completions techniques in order to enhance overall returns from the newly acquired assets.
In the Kaybob Duvernay, Bryksa said Crescent Point recently drilled what he said is the longest on-shore well ever drilled in Canada, at 9,017 metres including 5,400 metres of lateral length.
The record-breaking well will allow Crescent Point to reach portions of the reservoir that weren't otherwise accessible, he said.
For the first quarter of 2024, Crescent Point reported a financial loss Friday due to a non-cash impairment charge related to its sale of assets in Saskatchewan.
The company said it lost $411.7 million or 66 cents per share for the quarter ended March 31 compared with a profit of $216.7 million or 39 cents per share a year earlier.
Crescent Point's oil and gas sales for the quarter totalled $1.11 billion, up from $762.0 million in the first quarter of 2023.
Its total first-quarter production was 198,551 barrels of oil equivalent per day, compared with 139,280 in the prior year's quarter.
On an adjusted basis, the company says its net earnings from operations amounted to 30 cents per share, down from 40 cents per share in the same quarter last year.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Michael Harvey said in a note that while Crescent Point's quarterly results were better than expected, a higher valuation for the stock will depend on the company achieving "drama-free execution through 2024" as well as paying down debt.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 10, 2024.
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Amanda Stephenson, The Canadian Press
