Connacher Oil & Gas Ltd CLLZF

cll already making alot of money

[boomtown1]

Connacher's nine month cash flow grows 45 percent in 2007; Great Divide Pod One plant commissioned, steaming and bitumen sales underway; strong third Wed Nov 7, 3:45 PM Email Story IM Story Printable View /NOT FOR DISTRIBUTION TO UNITED STATES NEWSWIRE SERVICES OR FOR DISSEMINATION IN THE UNITED STATES/ CALGARY, Nov. 7 /CNW/ - Connacher Oil and Gas Limited (CLL - TSX) announced today that its cash flow from operations before working capital adjustments (cash flow(1)) rose 45 percent to $38 million for year to date in 2007 when compared to 2006. This growth in cash flow reflects an expanded operation and strong US refining margins throughout most of the year, although some moderation occurred in the third quarter this year. Earnings were very strong, up 115 percent in the quarter to $15 million ($0.07 per share) and 1,034 percent year to date to $42 million ($0.21 per share), buoyed by the impact of the strong Canadian dollar on the company's US dollar denominated indebtedness. A strong capital spending program of $267 million was primarily related to completion of the Great Divide Pod One facilities and wells at Connacher's oil sands operations in Alberta. Connacher's achievements during the third quarter of 2007 were considerable. On August 10, 2007 we completed the construction of our Great Divide Pod One oil sands project in northeastern Alberta. This was accomplished on time within the 300 day period allotted to the construction phase. Thereafter, we completed a month of commissioning of the plant and as scheduled, on September 16, 2007 we commenced steaming of all fifteen well pairs which had been drilled during the construction period. This included both the horizontal injector and producer wells which comprise the well pairs. By mid-October 2007 we were able to report that the steaming was proceeding effectively and that we had completed our first sale of diluted bitumen ("dilbit") production arising from our steam circulation program. Volumes were at prevailing market prices to Alberta markets and to our refinery in Montana. This will enable us to effectively assay the bitumen which will assist our marketing efforts as our production is ramped up to plant capacity of 10,000 bbl/d during 2008. HIGHLIGHTS - Pod One plant and facilities completed on time - Commissioning completed on September 16, 2007; steaming starts - First bitumen from Pod One produced and sold - Year to date 2007 record cash flow from operations before working capital changes(1) - Record earnings - Bought-deal flow-through share financing underway - Existing debt to be refinanced, new debt capital being raised for Algar (the company's second 10,000 bbl/d oil sands project). Summary Results ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Three months ended Nine months ended September 30 September 30 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2007 2006 % Change 2007 2006 % Change ------------------------------------------------------------------------- FINANCIAL ($000 except per share amounts) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Revenues, net of royalties 101,991 103,108 (1) 261,180 167,984 55 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cash flow from operations(1) 10,025 14,957 (33) 37,882 26,184 45 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Per share, basic(1) 0.05 0.08 (38) 0.19 0.15 27 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Per share, diluted(1) 0.05 0.08 (38) 0.19 0.14 36 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Net earnings (loss) for the period 14,589 6,771 115 41,801 3,686 1,034 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Per share, basic and diluted 0.07 0.03 133 0.21 0.02 950 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Capital expenditures and acquisitions 64,006 41,449 54 267,110 376,564 (29) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Cash on hand 754 14,450 (95) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Working capital (deficit) (19,853) (39,942) (50) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Long term debt 260,606 - N/A ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Shareholders' equity 428,764 378,730 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Total assets 826,418 527,028 57 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- ------------------------------------------------------------------------- OPERATING ------------------------------------------------------------------------- PNG daily production/ sales volumes ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crude oil - bbl/d 781 1,084 (28) 805 926 (13) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Natural gas - mcf/d 9,413 13,028 (28) 9,364 10,198 (8) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Barrels of oil equivalent - boe/d(2) 2,350 3,256 (28) 2,366 2,626 (10) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- PNG product pricing ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crude oil - $/bbl 55.98 62.53 (10) 51.57 56.83 (9) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Natural gas - $/mcf 4.70 5.33 (12) 6.49 5.58 16 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Barrels of oil equivalent - $/boe(2) 37.43 42.16 (11) 43.22 41.70 4 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Refining Throughput ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crude charged (bbl/d) 9,460 9,613 (2) 9,443 8,239 15 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Refinery utilization (%) 100% 101% (1) 99% 92% 8 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Margins (%) 14.7% 14.4% 2 18.2% 12.0% 52 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Common shares outstanding (000) ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Weighted average ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Basic 199,167 193,587 3 198,539 179,948 10 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Diluted 221,554 200,572 10 210,580 187,135 13 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of period ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Issued 199,447 197,878 1 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- Fully diluted 236,831 213,491 11 ------------------------------------------------------------------------- (1) Cash flow from operations before working capital changes ("cash flow from operations") and cash flow per share do not have standardized meanings prescribed by Canadian generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") and therefore may not be comparable to similar measures used by other companies. Cash flow from operations includes all cash flow from operating activities and is calculated before changes in non-cash working capital. The most comparable measure calculated in accordance with GAAP would be net earnings. Cash flow from operations is reconciled with net earnings on the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows and in the accompanying Management's Discussion & Analysis. Management uses these non-GAAP measurements for its own performance measures and to provide its shareholders and investors with a measurement of the company's efficiency and its ability to fund a portion of its future growth expenditures. (2) All references to barrels of oil equivalent (boe) are calculated on the basis of 6 mcf:1 bbl. Boes may be misleading, particularly if used in isolation. This conversion is based on an energy equivalency conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead.