speaker
Operator
Conference Operator

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to Saturn's first quarter 2026 results conference call. As a reminder, all participants are in a listen-only mode, and the conference is being recorded. After management's remarks, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To join the question queue, you may press star, then 1 on your telephone keypad. Should you need assistance during the conference call, you may signal an operator by pressing star, then 0. I will now turn the call over to Ms. Cindy Gray, Vice President, Investor Relations. Please go ahead, Cindy.

speaker
Cindy Gray
Vice President, Investor Relations

Thank you, Operator. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us to hear management's remarks about Saturn's first quarter 2026 results. Please note that our financial statements, MD&A, and press release are all filed on CDR Plus and available on our website. Some of the statements on today's call may contain forward-looking information, references to non-IFRS and other financial measures, and as such, listeners are encouraged to review the disclaimers outlined in our most recent MD&A. Listeners are also cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, since a number of factors could cause the actual future results to differ materially from the targets and expectations expressed. The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, unless expressly required by applicable securities law. For further information on risk factors, please view our AIF file on CEDAR Plus and our website. Also note, all amounts discussed today are in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated. On today's call, we'll hear from John Jeffery, Saturn's CEO, Scott Sanborn, our CFO, and Justin Kaufman, our Chief Development Officer, followed by a Q&A. I'll now hand the call over to John.

speaker
John Jeffery
Chief Executive Officer

Thank you, Cindy. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for taking the time to join us today. Saturn's first quarter of 2026 built on the momentum we delivered in Q4. Volumes of over 43,100 BOEs a day beat analysts' expectations for the seventh consecutive quarter. while we exceeded our quarterly guidance by more than 1,600 VOE a day. We also came in ahead of the analyst forecast on adjusted funds flow and free funds flow, a notable achievement since we only benefited from one month of a stronger oil price in March. This really highlights what a difference one month can make. Earlier in the year, plenty of market commentary was calling for oil to drop below US $60 per barrel due to oversupply concerns. and it traded around that level for the first two months of the year. Fast forward to mid-March, and the Iranian conflict drove prices significantly higher, with the WTI benchmark averaging U.S. $91 per barrel in the month. Despite the volatility and ongoing uncertainty about how and when this conflict would be resolved, Saturn's focus has not changed. We continue to navigate those factors within our control, including being disciplined but opportunistic in our capital allocation. we remain committed to reducing debt and protecting the downside. Ultimately, our goal is to improve per share metrics and create lasting value for shareholders. Our 2026 capital budget was based off $60 WTI, so we intentionally kept it lower to protect the future value of the product in the ground. However, as the price of oil has risen drastically since the beginning of March, Saturn has closely monitored the macro environment and the forward curve for pricing. Since spring break was underway, our ability to drill is restricted. So we're using this natural pause to assess market conditions and explore potential adjustments to our capital program. We believe that the nimble nature of our asset base and the flexibility of our capital program represents key differentiators for Saturn. We've shown time and again that our team is ready and able to ramp up or slow down activity without negatively impacts to the assets or our partners in the service sector. And this time is no different. We're planning to accelerate capital from the second half of 2026 into Q2, which is typically our lowest capital expenditure period due to breakup, subject to whether we are aiming to get rigs back in the field more quickly this year, targeting late May to mid-June. This is expected to enable Saturn to bring new volumes on production earlier and capitalize on a stronger oil price for the benefit of the company and our shareholders. Should oil remain elevated, we may look to update our full year 2026 capital budget and guidance to better reflect what the curve is indicating and increase cash flow generation. Debt repayment remains paramount for Saturn, and our results in Q1 demonstrate our ongoing commitment to reducing net debt. Exiting Q1, our net debt declined 5% compared to year-end 2025. And every dollar of debt that we take down is accretive to our equity value and further improves our per share metrics. Alongside debt reduction, we are committed to returning capital to shareholders via Saturn Share Buyback Program. Our daily NCIB purchases continue through Q1 and help to showcase the successful execution of our buybacks. Since August of 2025, when we renewed our NCIB, the number of shares we have bought back is nearing the maximum allowable for a one-year period, equal to 12.1 million shares. As our share price strengthened into March, we've reduced the number of shares being purchased each day while remaining the same approximate dollar spent. To further minimize dilution, Saturn has elected to settle our equity-based compensation awards by purchasing shares in the open market rather than issuing new shares from Treasury. This is a deliberate outcome of our strategy and designed to support per share value increases across all performance metrics. Another element of our long-term strategy is hedging, which protects the downside, particularly when debt is included in the capital stack. As prices have increased, Saturn has continued to layer on incremental contracts, while still remaining meaningfully exposed to higher prices on our unhedged barrels. And Scott will speak further to our hedging program later on the call. From capital allocation perspective, we will continue to prioritize free funds flow towards a combination of debt reduction, ongoing share buyback, and other initiatives that improve our per share metric, such as accretive token acquisitions that meet our screening activity. In the first quarter, for example, we closed a small tuck-in acquisition that fits perfectly within our Flat Lake area of southeast Saskatchewan. This core-up acquisition adds immediate value to Saturn, with current production in the 300 to 400 BOE a day range, future identified locations, infrastructure consolidation opportunities, cost reduction potential, and a strategic pipeline. This pipeline has the potential to deliver oil into the North Dakota pricing hub, which is currently realizing a premium to WTI. Saturn is currently in the process of bringing this pipeline back into service, and we are excited to see what this prospect has for us. I'm very proud of the work and the dedication of our team through another successful quarter, that their tireless effort and adherence to our strong safety culture Scott will now provide a financial overview, followed by Justin, concluding the call with a discussion about Q1 development and Saturn's GoPort program. Scott.

Disclaimer

This conference call transcript was computer generated and almost certianly contains errors. This transcript is provided for information purposes only.EarningsCall, LLC makes no representation about the accuracy of the aforementioned transcript, and you are cautioned not to place undue reliance on the information provided by the transcript.

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