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Pieridae Releases Q1 2021 Results
Company Achieves Highest-Ever Quarterly Natural Gas Production
Key Highlights:
- Natural gas production of 215 mmcf/day in Q1 2021, the highest quarterly production in our Company’s history
- Production of 43,997 boe/day, an increase of 7% compared to the same quarter in 2020
- Petroleum and natural gas revenue was $81.9 million, an increase of $17.1 million or 26% compared to the same quarter in 2020
- Cash flow from operations of $11.0 million
- Net Operating Income1 (“NOI”) of $20.9 million increased by 9%, and Adjusted Funds Flow From Operations (“AFFO”) of $14.9 million increased 7% compared to the same period last year
- We are progressing our ESG mandate and will deliver our inaugural ESG report in the second quarter of this year, anchored by our commitment to net zero emissions by 2050 for our Goldboro LNG Project
1 Refer to the "Non-GAAP measures" section on page 19 of the Company's Q1 2021 MD&A
CALGARY, ALBERTA – May 13, 2021 - Pieridae Energy Limited (“Pieridae” or the “Company”) (PEA.TO) released its Q1 2021 financial and operating results today, highlighted by strong overall production, with Pieridae producing the highest-ever recorded volume of natural gas in a quarter. The Company battled through the ongoing headwinds of COVID, recording year-over-year increases in cash flow from operations, NOI and AFFO.
“I am very pleased with the volume of gas we were able to produce in the first three months of 2021. It was no small feat to deliver the highest quarterly production of natural gas in the Company’s history and all should be commended,” said Pieridae’s Chief Executive Officer Alfred Sorensen. “We did see year-over-year growth in our main financial metrics and I am looking forward to Pieridae delivering its inaugural ESG Report that supports our commitment in helping to build a better energy future.
“As we continue to make tangible progress with our Goldboro LNG Project, ours is beginning to look like ‘the last one standing’ with others in North America either being delayed or cancelled outright. The Governments of Canada, Alberta and Nova Scotia will continue to look for ways to expand Canadian global markets for natural gas in order to reap the long-term benefits of our Project to support Indigenous Peoples reconciliation, create good paying middle-class jobs and play a supportive role in the global transition to a lower carbon economy,” concluded Sorensen.
Q1 2021 Financial & Operations Highlights
Pieridae’s assets maintained strong production in the first quarter of 2021, averaging 43,997 boe/day, a 7% increase from the comparative quarter in 2020. This was significant on a number of fronts considering the Company invested minimal capital during the last 12 months. Of significant importance, natural gas production of 215 mmcf/day set a record for the highest quarterly production in the Company’s history.
The production increase was primarily due to reduced unplanned outages from cold weather in the current quarter, and improved natural gas liquids recovery at the Waterton gas processing facility as a result of the straddle plant installed in the third quarter of 2020. Also contributing to increased volumes was the impact of minor uplift projects coupled with the successful acquisition of additional minor working interests in existing production finalized in the fourth quarter of 2020.
Commodity prices also continued to strengthen, with Pieridae recording a realized natural gas price of $2.63/mcf in the first quarter, compared to the AECO benchmark of $3.16/mcf. While our late 2020 and early 2021 hedges prevented us from fully realizing the AECO figure, realized prices in the first quarter were 22% higher than in the fourth quarter of 2020 and 17% higher than in Q1 of last year.
In the first quarter of 2021, Pieridae generated cashflow from operating activities of $11.0 million, NOI increased by 9% compared to Q1 2020 to $20.9 million and AFFO was $14.9 million, an increase of $0.9 million or 7% compared to the same period in 2020. Higher per-boe operating costs (due to increased third-party processing fees, higher power costs and increases in the per-tonne Alberta carbon tax) and royalties partially offset the strength in revenues. Additionally, net income was impacted by Pieridae’s continued investment in the Goldboro LNG Project, expenditures from which must be expensed until the Company reaches a successful final investment decision (“FID”).
Petroleum and natural gas revenue in the first quarter of 2021 was $81.9 million, an increase of $17.1 million or 26% compared to the same quarter in 2020. The increase was primarily due to additional production, and an increase in the realized price for natural gas and NGLs, partially offset by a corresponding decrease in the realized price of condensate.
Pieridae continues to leverage its hedging program to insulate it from volatile commodity prices. The program has proven successful at providing a degree of price certainty and revenue stability during these uncertain and challenging times due to COVID and other factors that have impacted the energy industry over the past year. Pieridae’s senior secured lender has temporarily amended its requirement to have 60% of production hedged on an 18-month rolling basis to allow the Company to take advantage of strengthening crude and natural gas markets. As of March 31, 2021, 139,500 GJ/d of fixed price physical sales contracts of natural gas were in place at a weighted-average price of $2.41/GJ, and 1,700 bbl/day of 2021 condensate production was hedged at a weighted average price of $55.59/bbl.
Quarterly Highlights
COVID-19 Response
Pieridae remains committed to the health and safety of its employees as they continue to do a remarkable job operating our assets safely and reliably. We are following Alberta Health protocols and guidance as the province grapples with continued high case loads and increasing amounts of variant positive tests. The Company supports health officials in urging all those who are able to get vaccinated.
It remains unclear when restrictions may ease so working remotely is the norm for the majority of office employees. We continue to urge staff to keep a safe distance from others, wash hands regularly and wear masks in all public spaces.
As a result of the ongoing vigilance by our employees and continued updates to work-safe protocols, Pieridae has not suffered any significant loss of productivity related to the pandemic during the quarter.
Environmental, Social & Governance (“ESG”)
The philosophy of ESG has long been part of the Pieridae culture. We believe a commitment to ESG through the development of strategy can help companies understand the positive impacts moving down this path and also manage the risks a firm’s operations may have on the environment and a wide range of stakeholders.
The Company has partnered with a global leader in ESG strategy development within the energy sector to offer guidance during the development of both our ESG strategy and Pieridae’s inaugural ESG Report. A robust and committed report supported by a strong, longer-term ESG strategy will help position the Company as we pursue FID and financing of our Goldboro LNG Project.
Pieridae targets releasing an inaugural ESG Report in the second quarter of this year.
Goldboro LNG
Pieridae remains focused on two main areas to continue to advance the LNG Project. First, the Company has moved a number of contracts forward for tender to complete the extensive preparation work needed at the LNG site. Second, based on Bechtel’s Class 3 cost estimate work on its Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commissioning (“EPCC”) contract, we are working with them to define the lump sum turn-key cost by the agreed-upon deadline of the end of May 2021 to construct the Goldboro LNG Facility.
Pieridae has sole responsibility to contract the site preparation, marine works and Lukowinuo’kuom workforce lodge. These contracts, as well as the EPCC contract, will be financed concurrently with a positive FID decision.
Our plan is to design and deliver a 2-Train Facility (each 5.2 million tonnes per annum “MMTPA”) that would employ approximately 3,500 workers during the peak construction phase. These employees will be housed at the workforce lodge to be built on or nearby the existing decommissioned Sable Island sour gas plant site. The Nova Scotia Mi’kmaq and Black Diamond Group will build and operate the lodge. Site preparation, site drainage, highway realignment and marine facilities are some of the major projects that must be built in tandem with, or prior to, the LNG Facility construction.
We are committed to making Goldboro LNG a net zero emissions Project by 2050. Vancouver-based Navius Research Inc. provided research that outlines pathways to achieve net zero emissions. The Project is a critically important part of Canada supporting the global transition to a lower carbon economy.
Q1 2021 Developments
Pieridae Hires New Chief Operating Officer
On April 1 we were pleased to report the hiring of Darcy Reding as our new Chief Operating Officer. Mr. Reding is a professional engineer with more than 30 years of progressive technical and leadership experience in small and midsized private and public upstream oil and gas companies. He brings senior-level experience running complex sour gas assets and has a proven record of building a resource base and economically bringing on new reserves. He has been successful in creating and executing corporate and ESG strategies while developing and leading high-performing, multi-disciplinary teams consistently outperforming targets and delivering stakeholder value.
Pieridae Issues Warrants
Pieridae announced April 8 it had granted 5,000,000 common share purchase warrants to Erikson National Energy Inc. Each warrant shall be exercisable to purchase one fully paid and non-assessable common share in the capital of Pieridae at an exercise price equal to CAD$0.70 per common share. The expiration date of the warrants is March 31, 2026. As part of the Credit Agreement Pieridae entered into with TEC on October 16, 2019 where the Company secured a loan facility of $206.0 million, Pieridae is subject to a series of covenants. In consideration of the issuance of these warrants, the covenant requiring the Company to achieve a minimum market capitalization threshold of $200 million commencing June 30, 2021 was removed.
2021 Guidance:
The Company’s guidance remains unchanged from previously released figures. Pieridae is guiding to an increase in NOI from 2020, primarily due to higher anticipated natural gas prices as well as continued optimization of our assets, higher third-party processing fees, increased overall volumes and cost saving initiatives. Pieridae anticipates NOI in the range of $100-$130 million, AFFO in the range of $80-$110 million, adjusted operating expenses of $9.50-10.50/boe, commodities hedging of 55-65% on an 18-month rolling basis, and corporate and upstream G&A expense of $1.10-$1.30/boe.
An upstream capital budget of $45-55 million has been approved that includes funds to continue investing in our assets to ensure their safety and reliability, as well as funding to maintain our current level of production. Specifically, for Goldboro LNG, we have budgeted $15-$20 million for development expenses, and assuming FID is declared by the end of June 2021, a further $250-$350 million capital expenditure budget for Goldboro would be triggered.
About Pieridae:
Founded in 2011, Pieridae, a majority Canadian owned corporation based in Calgary, is focused on the development of integrated energy-related activities, from the exploration and extraction of natural gas to the development, construction and operation of the Goldboro LNG facility and the production of LNG for sale to Europe and other markets. Pieridae is on the leading edge of the re-integration of the LNG value chain in North America. After completion of all the transactions disclosed in this news release, Pieridae has 157,641,871 common shares issued and outstanding which trade on the TSX (“PEA.TO”).
For further information please contact:
Alfred Sorensen, Chief Executive Officer
Telephone: (403) 261-5900
Rob Dargewitcz, Chief Financial Officer
Telephone: (403) 261-5900
James Millar, Director, External Relations
Telephone: (403) 261-5900
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain statements contained herein may constitute "forward-looking statements" or "forward-looking information" within the meaning of applicable securities laws (collectively "forward-looking statements"). Words such as "may", "will", "should", "could", "anticipate", "believe", "expect", "intend", "plan", "potential", "continue", "shall", "estimate", "expect", "propose", "might", "project", "predict", "forecast" and similar expressions may be used to identify these forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements involve significant risk and uncertainties. A number of factors could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements including, but not limited to, risks associated with oil and gas exploration, development, exploitation, production, marketing and transportation, loss of markets, volatility of commodity prices, currency fluctuations, imprecision of resources estimates, environmental risks, competition from other producers, incorrect
assessment of the value of acquisitions, failure to realize the anticipated benefits or synergies from acquisitions, delays resulting from or inability to obtain required regulatory approvals and ability to access sufficient capital from internal and external sources and the risk factors outlined under "Risk Factors" and elsewhere herein. The recovery and resources estimate of Pieridae's reserves provided herein are estimates only and there is no guarantee that the estimated resources will be recovered. As a consequence, actual results may differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements.
Forward-looking statements are based on a number of factors and assumptions which have been used to develop such forward-looking statements, but which may prove to be incorrect. Although Pieridae believes that the expectations reflected in such forward-looking statements are reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking statements because Pieridae can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. In addition to other factors and assumptions which may be identified in this document, assumptions have been made regarding, among other things: the impact of increasing competition; the general stability of the economic and political environment in which Pieridae operates; the timely receipt of any required regulatory approvals; the ability of Pieridae to obtain qualified staff, equipment and services in a timely and cost efficient manner; the ability of the operator of the projects which Pieridae has an interest in, to operate the field in a safe, efficient and effective manner; the ability of Pieridae to obtain financing on acceptable terms; the ability to replace and expand oil and natural gas resources through acquisition, development and exploration; the timing and costs of pipeline, storage and facility construction and expansion and the ability of Pieridae to secure adequate product transportation; future commodity prices; currency, exchange and interest rates; the regulatory framework regarding royalties, taxes and environmental matters in the jurisdictions in which Pieridae
operates; timing and amount of capital expenditures, future sources of funding, production levels, weather conditions, success of exploration and development activities, access to gathering, processing and pipeline systems, advancing technologies, and the ability of Pieridae to successfully market its oil and natural gas products.
Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list of factors is not exhaustive. Additional information on these and other factors that could affect Pieridae's operations and financial results are included in reports on file with Canadian securities regulatory authorities and may be accessed through the SEDAR website (www.sedar.com), and at Pieridae's website (www.pieridaeenergy.com). Although the forward-looking
statements contained herein are based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, management cannot assure that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. Investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are made as of the date hereof and Pieridae assumes no obligation to update or review them to reflect new events or circumstances except as required by Applicable Securities Laws.
Forward-looking statements contained herein concerning the oil and gas industry and Pieridae's general expectations concerning this industry are based on estimates prepared by management using data from publicly available industry sources as well as from reserve reports, market research and industry analysis and on assumptions based on data and knowledge of this industry which Pieridae believes to be reasonable. However, this data is inherently imprecise, although generally indicative of relative market positions, market shares and performance characteristics. While Pieridae is not aware of any misstatements regarding any industry data presented herein, the industry involves risks and uncertainties and is subject to change based on various factors.
Barrels of oil equivalent (“boes”) may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. A boe conversion ratio of 6 Mcf: 1 Bbl is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead.
Neither TSX nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in policies of the TSX) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release