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Operator
Good day ladies and gentlemen, my name is Sergio and I'll be your conference operator today. Welcome to Frontera Energy's fourth quarter and year-end 2022 operating and financial results control. All lines are currently on mute to prevent any background noise. I'd like to remind you that this conference call is being recorded today and is also available through audio webcast on the company's website. Following the speakers remarks there will be a time for questions Analysts and investors are reminded that any additional questions can be directed to the companies at ir.fronterraenergy.ca. This call contains forward-looking information with meaning of applicable Canadian security laws relating to activities, events, or developments to company beliefs or may occur in the future. Forward-looking information reflects the current expectations. assumptions and beliefs of the company based on information currently available to it. Although the company believes the assumptions are reasonable, forward-looking information is not guaranteed of future performance. Forward-looking information is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actors of the company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information. The company's MD&A for the quarter ended December 31, 2022. and the company's annual information for dated March 1, 2023, and other documents filed from time to time with security regulatory authorities describe the risk, uncertainties, material assumptions, and other factors that could influence actual results. Any forward-looking information speaks only as of date on which it is made, and the company disclaims any intent or obligation to update any forward-looking information except as required by law. I would like to turn the call over to Mr. Gabriel de Alba, Chairman of the Board of Frontera Energy. Please go ahead.
Sergio
Thank you, Operator. Good morning and welcome to Frontera's fourth quarter and year-end 2022 earnings call. Joining me on today's call are Orlando Cabrales, Frontera's Chief Executive Officer, and Rene Burgos-Diaz, Frontera's Chief Financial Officer. Also available to answer questions at the end of the call, we have Victor Vega, VP, Field Development, Reservoir Management, and Exploration. Alejandra Bonilla, General Counsel. Ivana Valo, VP Operations. And Renata Campanaro, VP Marketing, Logistics, and Business Sustainability. Thank you for joining us. 2022 was a strong financial and operational year for Frontera. The company delivered average daily production of 41,382 BOE per day, a 9% increase compared to 2021 production average, and in line with its increased and tightened 2022 production guidance. The company increased full year operating EBITDA by 70% to $641.9 million, within the company's $90 to $100 per barrel in the 2022 guidance range. The company finished the year with a total cash position of approximately $313 million, including restricted cash of $23 million. Frontier remains committed to enhancing shareholders' returns. In 2022, the company returned over $91 million to shareholders through its NCIB and SAB programs. Since 2018, Frontera has returned more than $300 million to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks while maintaining strong credit metrics. In addition, since 2017, the company has resolved more than $2.6 billion in continuing liabilities and commitments. permanently eliminating legacy issues. The company is focused on unlocking shareholder value from its upstream Colombia and Ecuador business, its standalone and growing midstream business, and its potentially transformational offshore exploration program in Guyana. In 2022, Frontera advanced the company's exciting development and lower risk exploration portfolio in Colombia and Ecuador, and started investments in additional water handling facilities at KIFA and CP6 in support of the company's 50,000 barrels per day production target. Also in 2022, Frontera strengthened its midstream portfolio with the acquisition of the remaining 40% interest in pipeline investment limited. Frontera now owns 35% of the ODL pipeline, which generated over $215 million in EBITDA in 2022. Since 2019, the company has increased its interest in Puerto Bahia by approximately 60% to 99.8%. Frontera's interest in the ODL pipeline and in Puerto Bahia creates a unique standalone midstream business which provides shareholders with significant upside potential. In Guyana, The joint venture discovered light oil and condensate at Tahoe One Well, offshore Guyana, and has successfully drilled the first prospective geologic horizons in the upper Maastrichtian at the Way One Well. The joint venture's second exploration well in the Quarantine Block, which is performing several days ahead of schedule. Fronteras assets, strong operating performance, and sun balance sheet, has positioned the company to deliver its 2023 objectives and to continue generating value for shareholders by unlocking the sum of the parts. I will now turn the call over to Orlando Cabrales, Frontera's CEO, and our CFO, René Burgos, who will share their views on the four quarter and full year results. Orlando.
Frontera
Thank you, Gabriel, and good afternoon, everyone, and thank you for taking the time to join us this morning. I'm pleased with Fronteras' 2022 operating and financial results. We delivered record production at CP6, which contributed to 2% quarter-over-quarter production growth to 40,806 BOE per day and 9% year-over-year growth to 41,382 BOE per day. The company increased water handling capacity at KIFA to approximately 1.55 million barrels of water per day at year-end, and we plan to grow to 2 million barrels of water per day by mid-2024 as the Sahara Water Treatment Facility comes online. And at CP6, the company expects to increase oil and water handling capacity to 240,000 barrels of water per day in 2023 and 480,000 barrels of water per day in 2025, building the foundation to grow production to 50,000 BOE per day. The company safely and responsibly executed $340 million in capital spending in support of its Colombian and Ecuador upstream onshore business and $104 million on its exciting Guyana offshore exploration program. I'm also pleased with the company's continued efforts to manage its cost structure. While production costs were higher year-over-year due to increased energy tariffs, maintenance, internal transportation costs, and well services, Frontera's transportation costs and G&A were in line with 2021. The company also increased its operating net back by 60% to $59.78 per VOE, increased its net sales realized price by 40% to $82.59 per VOE, reduce its restricted cash position by approximately 40 million dollars, and increase its uncollateralized credit lines to 118 million dollars. In our midstream segment, we revamped Puerto Bahia's leadership, adding expertise in the container business to drive incremental opportunities in the dry cargo terminal. For the year ended 2022, revenues from third party liquids and general cargo through Puerto Vallina increased 41% to approximately $40 million compared to 2021. Over 80% of Puerto Vallina's EBITDA is now generated from third parties. For 2022, the midstream business generated approximately $47 million in segment cash flow from operations. Frontera achieved 102% of its 2022 ESG goals, offset 52 of emissions, preserve and restore 1,747 hectares of key connectivity corridors in Casanare and Meta, and recycle 15% of its operating water and 17% of its solid waste in the Colombian operations. The company invested approximately 4.31 million on education, inclusive economic development, and quality of life initiatives benefiting 73,000 people through 218 social projects in Ecuador, Peru, and Colombia. Importantly, I am pleased to confirm the company's 2023 production guidance of 40,000 to 43,000 BOE per day. In 2022, we further diversify our production mix, increasing our conventional natural gas production to approximately 9,700 MCF per day, up 94% compared to 2021. We also grew natural gas liquids production to approximately 960 BOE per day in 2022, up 144% compared to 2021. In the fourth quarter of 2022, we drilled 17 development wells at Kefa, Kahua, CP6, and Coahuila blocks, and one injector well at Kefa. This compares to 14 development wells in the prior quarter. In 2022, the company drilled 67 development wells compared to 42 in 2021. Currently, the company has five drilling rigs and three work order rigs active at Ixquifa, CP6, Cubiro, and Corcel Guaipiquilla and BIM 22 blocks in Colombia. In Guyana, Frontera and CGX joint venture partners in the petroleum prospecting license for the quarantine block, commenced drilling operations on the Way 1 well on January 20, 2023, and the well is currently at 15,400 feet measured depth. There have been no lost time, safety, or environmental incidents since starting operations. Drilling operations have gone as planned, and the first prospective geological horizons in the upper Maastrichtian have been successfully drilled several days ahead of schedule. Geophysical logs are currently being obtained in the open hole section within which hydrocarbon shoals were encountered. When drilling operations resume, Deeper prospective horizons in the lower Maastrichtian, Campanian, and Sontanian sections will be targeted. The Wave 1 well is located approximately 14 kilometers northwest of the joint ventures previous Kawa 1 light oil and condensate discovery. The Wave 1 well is targeting Maastrichtian, Campanian, and San Antonio-age stacked sands within channel and fan complexes in the northern section of the quarantine block. The well is expected to take approximately four to five months from spot to reach total depth. Subsequent to the quarter, the government of Guyana approved an appraisal plan for the northern section of the quarantine block, which commenced with the Wave 1 well. Following completion of Wave 1 drilling operations and upon detailed analysis of the results, the joint venture may consider future wells. for its appraisal program to evaluate possible development facility in the CAWA 1 discovery area and throughout the northern section of the quarantine block. Any future drilling is contingent on positive results at wave 1, and the JV has no further drilling obligations beyond the wave 1 well. I would also note that on February 27, 2023, the JV completed the process of relinquishing the Demerara block through a mutual termination agreement with the government of Cayenne. Turning now to 2022 reserves, I'm pleased with Frontera's 2022 reserves results. As I mentioned earlier, we increased average daily production by 9%, in 2022 compared to 2021, while delivering 2P gross reserves of 175 million barrels with an NPD before taxes of $3.7 billion, an increase of 22% year over year. Importantly, we grew CP6 2P net reserves to 41 million barrels, while increasing annual average production to approximately 5,000 VOE per day, demonstrating our success in increasing reserves from less developed fields and passing KIFA for the most reserves by block in the company. And we increased our gross PVP reserves replacement ratio to 150% primarily driven by the advances in the development of KIFA, AMACA, and BIN1. We also increased gross gas and liquids reserves by 11% year-over-year to 21 million barrels, supporting our efforts to further diversify our production mix. Over the last three years, Frontera has averaged 16.6 million barrels gross to peer reserves additions, achieved 108% reserves replacement ratio, and an 11.6 years reserves life index. Looking ahead, we will invest between $170 million to $200 million in 2023. on our exciting lower risk and near field exploration portfolio in Colombia and Ecuador and the high impact Guyana exploration program reloading our research opportunity set for future growth. I would now like to turn the call over to René Burgos, Fronteras Chief Financial Officer.
Gabriel
Thank you, Orlando. Thank you all for joining us today as well. I'd like to take a moment to highlight a few key financial aspects of our fourth quarter and year-end results. The company recorded net income of 197.8 million or 2.29 cents per share in the fourth quarter of 2022. This compares with a net loss of 26.9 million or 30 cents per share in the prior quarter. and net income of $629.4 million for 6.6 per share in the fourth quarter of 2021. The company's fourth quarter net income included operating income of $296.8 million. This included a non-cash reversal of impairments of $229.8 million, partially offset by $68.6 million of income tax expense. foreign exchange losses of 28.2 million, and finance expense of 14.2. This compared to net income of 629.4 million in the fourth quarter of 2021. For the year ended December 31st, the company reported net income of 286.6 million. This included operating income of 643.4, and included a non-cash reversal impairment of 229.8 million. partially offset by income tax expense of 249.3, foreign exchange losses of 76.4 million primarily related to our midstream business, and finance expense of $53 million. This compared to net income of 628.1 million for the year ended December 31st, 2021. Cash provided by operating activities in the fourth quarter of 2022 was 138.3 million, compared with $120.8 million in Q3 and $113.5 million in the Q4 of 2021. The increase in cash by operating activities quarter over quarter was primarily due to positive variations of working capital offset by lower benchmark Brent oil prices. The company generated $620.5 million of cash from operations in 2022, which compares to $327 million in 2021. During the year, the company primarily invested $417.6 million in capital expenditures, which included $62 million in exploration expenditures in onshore Colombia and Ecuador and $100 million in Guyana. $94 million in debt service payments and $91 million in insured buybacks and 36 million to increase its indirect interest in the audio pipeline to 35%. Operating EBITDA was 145 million in Q4 compared with 173.2 million in Q3 and 148.6 in Q4 2021. The decrease in operating EBITDA quarter over quarter was primarily a result of lower commodity prices lower volume sold in the fourth quarter, and higher energy import costs. Frontera's weighted average print price was $98 per barrel in 2022, generating $641.9 million of EBITDA, up 70% compared to 2021, and within the company's $90 to $100 barrel print price 2022 guidance. The company reported a total cash position of $313 million at December 31st, 2022, relatively flat when compared to September numbers of $309.1 million and $320.8 million at December 31st, 2021. I'd like to take a minute to talk about our midstream business. Following the company's purchase of ISC's interest in the ODL pipeline in Q3, Frontier has strengthened its midstream cash flows and created a standalone and growing midstream business. to provide better clarity on this important part of our business. And in direct response to requests from many segments of the market, you will note in our Q4 financial statements at MD&A, we have disclosed additional information about Frontera's mystery business. We look forward to your questions. The company's mystery segment reported income from operations for three months and year end December 31st, 2022 of $14.9 million and $54.3 million respectively. This compares with $19.4 million and $77.8 million for the same peers in 2021, which included Frontera Colombia's liquid terminal take-or-pay, which ended in December 2021. As Rolando mentioned earlier, for the year ended 2022, revenues from third-party liquids and general cargo through Puerto Bahia was up to $39.6 million or up 41% compared to 2021 levels. Today, over 80% of Puerto Vallecas EBITDA is generated from third parties. For the year ended 2022, ODL generated 215.1 million of EBITDA and 120.1 million of net income. This represents an 11% year-over-year growth on both ends. Frontera, through its holding subsidiary, Pipeline Investments Limited, now owns a 35% equity interest in the ODL Pipeline. Lastly, I would like to talk about our risk management strategy. Frontera uses derivative commodity instruments to manage exposure through price volatility by hedging a portion of its oil prices. Consistent with this strategy, the company entered into new put hedges totaling 2.16 million barrels to protect a portion of the company's production through May 2023. These hedges were at a price greater than $70 a barrel. As of March 1st, 2023, Frontera has entered into FX hedges, totally $115 million, using zero-cost callers, protecting various levels depending on the quarter. I will point you as well to our MD&A financial statements for further information. I would like now to turn the call back to Orlando for closing remarks.
Frontera
Thank you, Renee. As you have heard, Frontera had a very busy and successful fourth quarter and full year in 2022. Turning our attention to 2023, I'm very excited about our capital program which aims to deliver stable cash flow and between $425 million to $475 million operating EBITDA at $80 per barrel average rent prices from our proven and diverse asset base, while also investing for future growth through facilities expansion and both near-field and high-impact exploration. We anticipate investing approximately between $185 to $250 million to deliver approximately between 40 and 43,000 BOE per day, a 13% decrease in developing spending as compared to 2022. The 2023 program is fully funded from existing cash and 2023 cash flows Teachers balance capital allocation across our most productive and prospective blocks, basins, and countries, supports our ongoing efforts to diversify our production mix, and lays the foundation for the company's path to grow production to 50,000 VOE per day. In 2023, we will advance the company's exciting development and lower risk exploration portfolio in Colombia and Ecuador, Invest in infrastructure and facilities at KIFA and CP6 to increase production. Leverage our advanced transportation and logistics structure to maximize realized prices. Mature our self-sustaining and growing midstream business, including Puerto Bahia and ODL. Execute our hedging program to protect our revenue generation and manage our exposure to price volatility. and seek to build on our Kawa 1 light oil and condensate discovery with the Wave 1 well, our second exploration well offshore Gallardo. In 2023, we anticipate total capital spending of approximately $385 million to $455 million, which is approximately 10% lower at the midpoint compared to Frontera's 2022 guidance. We anticipate total Colombia and Ecuador capital expenditures of $265 million to $350 million, which is approximately 70% at the midpoint of the company's 2023 capital budget. Capital expenditures will be divided between development and exploration activities. We anticipate directing approximately $250 million to $255 million towards the company's base Colombia and Ecuador upstream activities. In Colombia, we also anticipate spending approximately $110 to $130 million to drill 55 production wells mainly in KIFA, CP6, CAHUA, and COPA fields, complete 24 well interventions and drill two injector wells, and approximately $75 million to $85 million on development facilities, primarily to increase oil and water handling capacity at CP6 and KIFA. And finally, as mentioned, we intend to invest $170 million to $200 million on our Colombia, Ecuador, and Guyana exploration programs. We are delivering on our strategy. We are delivering value-focused production, cash flow, and research from our base Colombia operations, achieving continuous operational improvement across the business, creating a self-sustaining and growing midstream business in Porto Aria and ODL, advancing our exciting development and exploration portfolio in Colombia, Ecuador, and offshore Guyana, returning capital to shareholders, and extending our track record of ESG delivery and performance across the business. In summary, 2022 was a good year for Frontera, and 2023 is looking even better. We have a solid outlook, strong balance sheet, and excellent team, and we will continue to generate value for our shareholders. With that, I would like to conclude by saying thank you to Gabriel and René for their comments, and thank you everyone for attending our call. I will now turn the call back to our operator, who will open the call up for questions.
Renee
Thank you.
Operator
Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. If you want to ask a question, please press Start followed by the number 1. If you want to withdraw your question, please press R2. Your questions will be pulled in the order they are read. If you are using a speakerphone, please lift the handset before pressing any keys.
Renee
One moment please for your first question. Your first question comes from Ronan Rossi from Canaccord.
Operator
Please go ahead.
spk09
Good morning, everyone, and thanks for taking my question. Congratulations on the results. So I have a couple. The first one is regarding wave one. So I just wanted to ask, what's the pending cash commitment for the well, and when it will be recorded in your financial statement?
Renee
Can you re-ask the question, what is or what commitment?
spk09
The pending cash for wave one.
Gabriel
So I think as we disclose during our JOA amendment discussion, we are committed $130 million to fund the well, and that is what drove our increased interest as Frontera to 68%. So as to your recording question, when it gets recorded, it's an accounting question. So it gets recorded as it gets spent.
spk09
Okay. During 2022, you spend around $20 million, $30 million anyway. So the remaining commitment should be recorded during the first quarter of 2023, I assume.
Gabriel
So remember, it takes four to five months. So it will be between the first and second quarter. The second part is that $130 is exclusive of – so that $22 comprise a few other points, you know, some pre-drilling activity. And I think we highlighted this in the JOA. So the The 22 doesn't necessarily correlate directly to the 130.
spk09
Great. And the second one is regarding the NCIV. I know it's ending in March. Are you expecting to launch a new one afterwards?
Gabriel
Look, I think that we are focused on driving shorter value, and we'll continue to review all strategic alternatives that create and generate the most value for all of our stakeholders and shareholders. And we're currently discussing that, and it's a decision for the board to make.
Frontera
As we have said before, we remain committed to returning capital to our shareholders.
spk09
Great. And the final question is regarding the port in Guyana. So are you expecting any cash out of Frontera for the port? And do you have a timeline when CGX will keep building this?
Renee
The answer on the cash is no, and I will defer this to CDX. Okay. Thank you. Yep. Thank you, everyone. Thank you. Thank you. Your next question comes from Sarah Constantine from Summer Moon.
Operator
Please go ahead.
Victor Vega
Great quarter, great year. Just wanted to commend you on that. You guys are doing a bang-up job, so... I wanted to start off with that.
Gabriel
If you can speak a little louder or closer, it'll be great.
Victor Vega
Yeah, can you hear me okay now?
Gabriel
This is much better. Yes, thank you.
Victor Vega
Yeah, okay, you're welcome. Yeah, I was saying, first off, great quarter, great year. I just wanted to commend you all on that. I think you guys have been doing a great job. I had two questions. First question is, maybe it was a little bit addressed in the prior one. Is there any interest at all in bringing back a dividend? I guess my question comes from the fact, you know, there have been a lot of shareholder buybacks over the last year, but the stock price really hasn't shown the increased equity value. So I was wondering if there's any consideration of a dividend. And then I guess the second question is more technical related. In regards to the way one well, Given the kind of more simplified well design, is there any interest in keeping that well later for some utility value? I know that previously we had abandoned the previous well, but this one has a different well design, and I'm curious if it's just going to be temporarily abandoned, or the plan is also to abandon it. Thank you.
Frontera
You want to take the first one, and Victor can take the second one?
Gabriel
Yes. So I'll take the dividend question, and that's a great question. We had a dividend policy that ended in 2020. At the behest of some of our shareholders and due to certain tax attributes as to how our dividends are taxed because of our holding structure, we decided to prefer share buybacks as a vehicle to do it. But like I said before, we continue to review opportunities to return capital to our shareholders and make it in the manner that is most efficient. And we will continue to discuss that at the board level and revert back with any changes. But considering it, but as of right now, I think that there is nothing on the agenda regarding dividends.
Victor
Okay, this is Victor Vega on the second question, the second part of the question related to the usage of the well in the future. So two things that I would like to highlight. The first one is that, you know, as you point out, the well design is much simpler because of the fact that we are going shallower with respect to CAWA. And in terms of what do we plan to do with the well, so we will have to assess that when we get to the end of the well, and see what is what we have found. But most likely what we're going to end up is with a temporary abandonment or permanent abandonment, but that will be something that we will decide depending on the well results and the state of the well at that point.
Victor Vega
Okay. Thank you for taking my question.
Renee
Again, great quarter and great year. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.
Operator
Your next question comes from Christine Guerrero from BrickHouse Ventures. Please go ahead.
Christine Guerrero
Hello, and great quarter, guys. Also, my questions are regarding the Weigh One Well. So, first of all, I'd like to ask is how closely is the geology comparing to your pre-grim model? Also, what logs are currently being run and are planned to be run over each of the open hole sections? How long following the end of the well will it take to provide an official reserves estimate or resource estimate? And so also, if this well looks really promising at the end, and you kind of alluded to this, Victor, if it's temporarily abandoned, I'm assuming that you would potentially be able to use it for a sidetrack appraisal at a later date. Is that correct?
Victor
Yeah, okay, so let me, this is Victor again. You asked a lot of questions. Let me make sure that I capture all of them correctly. So let me go first. I want to start with the last one that you asked about the usage of the well. Yeah, as we pointed out, Christine, in the previous answer, we will see what happens with the well bore at that point, right, in terms of what is what we found and whether or not, you know, in terms of the operational status of the well, if it would make sense, to keep the well or part of the well to do something like what you're proposing. So that's something that we will have to look at when we get there, but certainly it's a good question that you're asking and something that we will have to consider. In terms of what we have seen so far with respect to the geology, yeah, the match is relatively good, but remember that we're still in the upper Cantanian. So remember that our main horizons are in the Maastrichtian And, sorry, we are in the upper Maastrichtian, and our main targets are in the Lower Campanian and the San Antonio. So we still have some ways to go. So therefore, you know, right now this is not the main part of the well. It's just the initial part of the well. So when we get into resume the operations, after the operations that we are conducting right now to collect data, then we will continue to the best part of the, or the most important part of the well. So I think that's what I would say.
Renee
Perfect. I think you answered all my questions.
Christine Guerrero
Oh, with the exception of the logs. So during, when you're actually going over your target zones, what series of logs and data are you planning on acquiring?
Frontera
I think, Christina, in the way I would answer that is that, I mean, our priority now is to drill successfully the well. I mean, we are on time, ahead of schedule, which is great. And we expect that a successful logging and data acquisition will allow us, I mean, to get that information so that preliminary work on North Corentine estimates can be further advanced. So, I wouldn't say anything else than that.
Renee
Okay. Thank you. Thank you, Christine. Thank you. Jason Youngman, as a reminder, should you have a question, please press star one. Your next question comes from Oriana Cobalt from Balance.
Operator
Please go ahead.
Oriana
Hi, good afternoon. This is Oriana Cobalt with Balance. Thanks for taking my question. Two separate questions, moving from the Guyana update. First, with regards to the income tax that you reported for this quarter and the effective tax rate, so I just wanted to understand how are you provisioning vis-a-vis next year with the increased tax burden, and how would this play out if you still have an ongoing tax credit that could prevent of further drag in cash tax payments.
Gabriel
Thank you, Oriana. So, two things. You want a clarification on our, on our, on our, or the tax that we're requesting, the recording 2022, and you also want visibility as to how we're recording tax in 2023. Is that the question?
Oriana
Yeah.
Gabriel
So for 2022, you saw mostly an adjustment on deferred taxes, and this is a combination of us consuming some of our NOLs, some of the tax attributes that we've been carrying, and also utilizing some tax credits. The second part of the question as to 2023, the way that you should anticipate us provisioning taxes going forward is it's, again, accounting driven, so you should start us accruing the taxes that are owed, but simultaneous with that, we are actually also maximizing some of the deferred taxes that we have available to minimize the tax burden related to that, as well as additional tax credit that we can have on hand. The best that I can point you to is in our guidance, we actually pointed to our expectations of cash tax income taxes for 2023, and what we did for the market is we provided ranges. So for modeling purposes, what you can do is look at the price ranges that we provided, and you would see anywhere from 30 to 50, I think, at 75, and then it goes to 80, I think it's then 90, or is it 85? 80 and 85. 80 and 85, and you can get a sense of how we are provisioning for the cash cost related to our tax income in 2022. three, which already includes our view as to the best use of our tax attributes that we have on balance sheet. Is that helpful?
Oriana
Yeah, perfect. That's very clear. And maybe just another one in terms of the operations. Maybe if you can comment on what are you seeing in terms of discounts to international prices? Have you seen this getting tighter? Because it was my understanding that for heavier crude during the fourth quarter, these spreads were tending to get wider. So just what are you seeing so far during the year and what are your expectations going forward? Are you talking about OPEX? No, realized prices. The differentials.
Frontera
You're talking about the differentials? Yeah. Differentials.
Oriana
Yeah, differentials. Yeah, exactly. Okay.
Frontera
Yes, no, what we are seeing is that in the first quarter of the year, we are seeing higher differentials compared with the previous quarter. In any case, we are doing better than the benchmark, but certainly we are seeing that in the market for the first quarter. The good thing from our perspective, Oriana, is that we have this capability, internal capability, to take advantage of the prices, and we do the market of our products directly. So we have been doing better than the benchmark. We are seeing that in the market, and we are going to monitor that on a daily basis and try to get the best price for the company.
Oriana
Perfect. That's clear. Sorry, one last one. And just going back, to your opening remarks with regards to the midstream business. You mentioned additional initiatives to increase value in both Puerto Bahia and ODL. So maybe if you can comment a bit more on where you're thinking and how are you thinking of the business in that sense.
Frontera
OK. I mean, the first thing I would say is to highlight what Gabriel already said, which is that we have now a controlling interest in Porto Aria, which gives us the authority to change the direction, the strategic direction of the company and unlocking the value out of the port. We believe that the port is a unique asset. It's a state of the art facility. Last year, the port managed 50,000 barrels per day of oil and oil products. That gives you an indication of the level of activity that we are seeing in the port. We have the largest roll-on, roll-off cargo operator in the country. And we have a standalone EBITDA between $15 and $20 million. As we said, 80% of that is coming from third parties, which is great. And the last thing I would say is that last year we bumped the management team of Puerto Aria with the orientation of developing the containers business in the port.
Gabriel
No, look, I would add just, since I'm the finance guy, I would add a couple of just extra data points. We have assets here that have significant value. On a combined basis, if you take our 35% interest in ODL and you combine it with our 100% interest in Porto Valle, our 99.8, you're talking about a business that has a combined proportional EBITDA in excess of $90 million. That's exciting to us, and that's why when we refer to a standalone business, They said this is a stance on its own two feet. It has growth opportunities. And we believe that if we continue to mature this business, this could generate significant equity upside potential for our shareholders that you don't see reflected in our stock today.
Oriana
Perfect. That's very clear. Thanks, Orlando and Anis, for taking my questions.
Renee
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, as a reminder, if you have a question, please press star 1.
Operator
There are no further questions at this time. Should you have any further questions, please email ir at santeriaenergy.ca. This concludes the call. Thank you all for participating.
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