Stockwatch Energy today
Energy Summary for Nov. 18, 2022
2022-11-18 20:06 ET - Market Summary
by Stockwatch Business Reporter
West Texas Intermediate crude for December delivery lost $1.56 to $80.08 on the New York Merc, while Brent for January lost $2.16 to $87.62 (all figures in this para U.S.). Western Canadian Select traded at a discount of $29.07 to WTI, unchanged. Natural gas for December lost seven cents to $6.30. The TSX energy index lost a fraction of a point to close at 262.29.
Oil prices notched their second weekly decline in a row, dragged down by recession fears, Chinese COVID outbreaks and a stronger U.S. dollar (which makes oil more expensive for non-U.S. buyers). Gas prices, though down for today, notched a weekly increase. Today brought some welcome news for gas producers. A major LNG (liquefied natural gas) facility in Texas will reportedly be able to resume operations next month and return to full capacity in March.
The facility is owned by Freeport LNG, one of the largest LNG exporters in the country. It had to close the plant after a fiery explosion in early June. The closure contributed to a backup of gas across North America, sending price benchmarks tumbling toward $6.50 (U.S.) from $9 (U.S.) in less than a month. They got as low as $4.95 (U.S.) in October (though they have since climbed back up to today's level of $6.30 (U.S.)). In a press release today, Freeport said repairs at the facility are 90 per cent complete and operations will start to ramp up "in a slow and deliberate manner" in mid-December, with "full production ... anticipated to commence in March."
Gas producers cheered. Here in Canada, while major oil producers such as Cenovus Energy Inc. (CVE: $27.13) and Suncor Energy Inc. (SU: $47.66) fell with oil prices, gassy ones such as ARC Resources Inc. (ARX: $18.97), Peyto Exploration & Development Corp. (PEY: $14.43) and Tourmaline Oil Corp. (TOU: $79.73) ended the day higher.
Meanwhile, Baytex Energy Corp. (BTE), with oil operations in Western Canada and Texas, edged down one cent to $6.85 on 7.35 million shares. It has a new chief financial officer. Rodney Gray, who has served as CFO for the past eight years, is now leaving Baytex to "pursue other opportunities." The company has promoted finance vice-president Chad Kalmakoff to be the new CFO.
Mr. Kalmakoff has been with Baytex for the last seven years. Before that, he served in quick succession as CFO of three other companies. These were Kicking Horse Energy (which was acquired by the Orlen Group in 2015), Corinthian Exploration (which was acquired by Legacy Oil in 2014, with Legacy acquired the following year by Crescent Point Energy Corp. (CPG: $10.73)) and Pace Oil & Gas (which took part in a three-way merger in 2013 to become Spyglass Resources, although Spyglass lasted only two years before falling into receivership). Mr. Kalmakoff joined Baytex in September, 2015, as vice-president of finance. Although the departure of Mr. Gray as CFO seems abrupt, president and chief executive officer Eric Greager reassured investors that Mr. Kalmakoff is "well positioned to step into this role."
As it happens, this is first major executive change since Mr. Greager stepped into his new role, taking over from former president and CEO Ed LaFehr just two weeks ago. Mr. LaFehr had provided ample notice of his departure, telling investors last July that he wanted to retire by January. He ended up handing over the reins to Mr. Greager on Nov. 4, but is staying on for several more weeks as an adviser.
Further afield, a duo of international wildcatters headed into the weekend in a glum mood. Gil Holzman and Colin Kinley's Eco (Atlantic) Oil & Gas Ltd. (EOG) plunged 37 cents to 30 cents on 14.8 million shares, while the Lundin family's Africa Energy Corp. (AFE) lost 10 cents to 21.5 cents on 1.6 million shares. Their much-hyped Gazania-1 exploration well off the coast of South Africa has come up empty.
Eco, the operator and 50-per-cent owner in the South African joint venture, broke the news last night that the well "did not show evidence of commercial hydrocarbons ... [and] will now be plugged and abandoned." Management strove to paste on a smile. Non-commerciality aside, the well did turn up some gas shows, "confirm[ing] the active hydrocarbon system," said Mr. Kinley, Eco's co-founder and chief operating officer. He added that the well had no safety or environmental issues and that "we are happy with the overall technical operation." Mr. Holzman, co-founder and CEO, chimed in to add that Gazania-1 was "only the first of four wells we have planned for the next 18 to 24 months across our wider portfolio." (None of the four are at block 2B, where Gazania-1 was drilled, meaning that this block is going on the back burner for potentially years.)
Africa Energy, the next-largest owner in the joint venture, also tried to put on a brave face. Exploration vice-president Jan Meier echoed the comments about the well "confirm[ing] an active petroleum system." There is still "significant prospectivity" in the general area and "further analysis and integration of the well data will allow the joint venture to determine next steps." One silver lining for Africa Energy is that, as the original owner of the block prior to various farm-outs, its financial exposure is relatively limited. It estimated that its net cost exposure is only about $5-million (U.S.). (The well likely cost over $30-million (U.S.), largely borne by Eco.)
The dud well is also a disappointment to fellow Lundin promotion Africa Oil Corp. (AOI), down 16 cents to $2.91 on 2.99 million shares. Africa Oil is indirectly involved through its 17.2-per-cent equity interest in Eco and its 19.8-per-cent equity interest in Africa Energy. As little as four days ago, it was helping to hype the Gazania-1 well as a potential "high-impact catalyst." Alas, the description proved apt, but only in the way that brings to mind a car crash.
© 2022 Canjex Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.