5/4/2023
Good morning, my name is Joelle and I'll be your conference facilitator today. Welcome to Frontera Energy first quarter 2023 operating financial results conference call. All lines are currently on mute to prevent any background noise. I would like to remind you that this conference call is being recorded today and is also available through our audio webcast on the company's website. Following the speaker's remarks, there will be time for questions. Analysts and investors are reminded that any additional questions can be directed to the company at IR at F-R-O-N-T-E-R-A-E-N-E-R-G-Y.ca. This call contains forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian securities laws relating to activities, events, or developments the company believes or expects will 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 a guarantee of future performance. Forward-looking information is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that may cause the actual results of the company to differ materially from those discussed in the forward-looking information. The company's MDNA for the quarter ended March 31, 2023, and the company's annual information form dated March 1, 2023. Another document it files from time to time with securities regulatory authorities describe the risks and uncertainties, material assumptions, and other factors that could influence actual results. Any forward-looking information speaks only as of the 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 now like to turn the call over to Mr. Gabriel D'Alba, Chairman of the Board of Frontera Energy. Mr. D'Alba.
Thank you, Operator. Good morning, and welcome to Frontera's first quarter 2023 earnings call. Joining me on today's call are Orlando Cabrales, Frontera CEO, and Rene Burgos, Frontera CFO. 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 Revalo, VP Operations. And Reeta Campanaro, VP Marketing, Logistics, and Business Sustainability. Thank you for joining us. The company delivered average daily production of 41,586 barrels per day, generated $91.9 million of operating EBITDA, and invested $131.5 million in capital expenditures, in line with its 2023 guidance. Consistent with the strategic focus of unlocking standalone value from our three businesses, upstream in Colombia and Ecuador, with our port and pipelines, and Guyana, the company successfully refinanced Puerto Valle's existing legacy project finance debt via a new 120 million loan facility with a group of lenders led by Macquarie Capital. With this refinancing complete, Frontera's standalone midstream business is fully capitalized and can operate and grow independently. The refinancing extended the tenor of the borrowings to December 2027 and provide for up to $30 million in additional funding to pursue strategic investment opportunities with a midstream business. Subsequent to the quarter end, the company designated Frontera Energy Guyana Holdings Ltd. and Frontera Energy Guyana Corp. as unrestricted subsidiaries and released from Terra Energy Guyana Corp as a note warrantor for its senior bonds due 2028. The designation is a positive forward step as the company nears the completion of our two-well commitment in Guyana and supports ongoing capital discipline. Speaking of Guyana, I'm excited to confirm that Frontera and its joint venture partner, CGX, have encountered oil-bearing intervals at the Way 1 well in the Western Channel Fan Complex, all of the northern portion of the current time block in formations of Maastrichtian and Campanian ages. The current depth of the Way 1 well is 19,142 feet, and drilling is progressing towards the planned TD of 20,500 feet. Orlando will provide more details on way one in a few minutes. We remain committed to successfully and safely completing this potential transformational opportunity. Finally, as you may have noticed beginning with last quarter's disclosure documents, the company is committed to providing greater clarity and insight into its three core businesses through its quarterly results and press releases, financial statements, management discussion, and analysis including this conference call. You'll hear more about this in a moment. As mentioned, the company remains focused on unlocking value from its three core businesses, upstream, midstream, and Guyana, to achieve strategic priorities and unlock shareholder value. I'll now turn the call over to Orlando Cabrales, Frontera's CEO, and our CFO, Rene Burgos, who will share their views on Frontera's first quarter results and the performance of our three core businesses. Orlando?
Thank you, Gabriel. Good morning, everyone. Thank you for taking the time to join us. I'm pleased with Frontera's first quarter operational and financial results. Despite community blockades in early February, which temporarily shut in production at our KIFA and CP6 operations, the company's third quarter production was largely in line with the prior quarter. Year-to-date, we are delivering average daily production of approximately 41,800 BOE per day, and so far, in the second quarter of the year, we have averaged approximately 42,500 BOE per day. Our first quarter average production and the strong production performance so far in the second quarter is a testament to the versatility and robustness of our assets and our operations teams hard work and dedication to quickly return production to pre-blockade levels. Taking a closer look at our three core businesses. In our Colombia and Ecuador upstream segment, we drilled 17 development wells at Kifa, Cahua, CP6, and Cubiro blocks. And we currently have five drilling rigs and two workover rigs active at our Kifa, CP6, Cubiro, and Corcel Guaitiquea blocks in Colombia. We drilled seven production wells at Kifa and five production wells at Cahua during the quarter. As we have highlighted previously, increasing water handling capacity at KIFA is key to Frontera's efforts to grow production. Our current water handling capacity at KIFA is approximately 1.5 million barrels of water per day. Earlier this year, we began commissioning Sahara, our reverse osmosis water treatment facility to process water from our KIFA block operations. As of April of this year, the Sahara plant has already processed 1.5 million barrels of water as part of its commissioning program, providing irrigation source water to the companies nearby Proagro Llano's palm oil plantation. I will note that every additional 100,000 barrels of water handled increases our net production at Kifan
by 1,200 barrels per day.
At Kahua, the company drilled five horizontal wells in the first quarter, which increased gross average production to 3,873 barrels of oil per day of heavy crude in March. And current gross average production is 4,860 barrels of oil per day. We are also excited about the early success of our AICD program, a technology that has reduced water production per well by more than 50% in the three wells we tested on technology model. Turning now to our midstream Colombian business. The company's midstream Colombia segment income was $16.9 million in the first quarter of the year. Puerto Bahia liquid terminal revenues increased by 10% compared with the same period of 2022 with third party volumes comprising 82% of total liquid terminal revenues. General cargo terminal revenues increased by 4% compared with the same period in 2022. We are maintaining a strong share of roll-on, roll-off business and seeking potential growth in bulk and container opportunities. Proportional EBITDA for the midstream segment in Colombia for the first quarter of 2023 was $28.2 million. Now, our Guyana exploration business. On January 23rd, 2023, Frontera and CGX, joint venture partners in the petroleum prospecting license for the quarantine block offshore Guyana, announced the spot of the Way 1 well. To date, the well has been successfully drilled to a depth of 19,142 feet, and we anticipate reaching a total depth of 20,500 feet. The Wave 1 well is located approximately 14 kilometers northwest of the joint venture's previous Kawa 1 light oil and condensate discovery. The well has encountered oil-bearing intervals in the western channel fan complex of the northern portion of the quarantine block in formations of Maastrichtian and Campanian ages. A comprehensive logging campaign in the Maastrichtian and Campanian intervals indicate the presence of oil, confirmed by downhole analysis. Logging while drilling and cuttings indicate the presence of hydrocarbons in the upper portion of the santonion. Fluid samples have not yet been fully obtained. Sidewall core samples will be attempted in the santonion interval when drilling resumes. Preliminary indications from the secondary targets in the Maastrichtian and Campanian are positive. However, no assurance can be given that these activities will ultimately produce hydrocarbons in commercial quantities. While performing additional well logging and data acquisition operations, a wireline fluid sampling tool became stuck in the well and was not recovered. An open-hole sidetrack is going to begin shortly from below the last casing point to the plan TD. The joint venture expects to complete wave one operations within the original four or five months timeframe as announced on January 23rd of this year. The JV has updated its wealth total cost estimates to $170 million. to $190 million to successfully reach the target total depth and complete its drilling program. The increasing cost includes the delays associated with the late arrival of the brick and costs associated with fishing and sidetrack operations. As Gabriel mentioned in his opening remarks, we remain committed to successfully and safely completing this potentially transformational opportunity.
I would now like to turn the call over to René Burgos from Fronteras CFO.
Thank you, Orlando.
Thank you all for joining us today. I'd like to take a moment to highlight a few key financial aspects of our first quarter results. Operating EBITDA was approximately $92 million in the first quarter. This compares with $145 million in the prior quarter. in quarter-over-quarter operating EBITDA was primarily a result of lower commodity prices and lower sales volumes. As of March 31st, the company had a total inventory balance of 1.6 million barrels, an increase of 0.4 million barrels compared to December 31st. The company actively manages its volumes, ending the quarter with more than 370,000 barrels of increased inventory as compared to the prior quarter. which was subsequently sold in the second quarter of 2023. During the quarter, the company invested approximately $132 million in capital expenditures, including $75 million in CapEx related to Guyana, $3.5 million in debt service payments, and just over $4 million in share buybacks. In addition, the company obtained net proceeds from the PIL loan facility of $115 million, which were used to fully repay the Puerto Bahia legacy debt. We had higher working capital in the quarter, largely due to higher withholding tax payments resulting from the updated tax legislation. Payment of higher capital activities executed during 2022 and the additional Colombia-Ecuador oil inventory that I just mentioned. The company reported a total cash position of 193 million as of March 31st, compared to 313 million at the December 31st close. Turning to enhanced shareholder returns, as part of our 2023 plan, we continue pushing forward with our efforts to unlock shareholder value from our upstream Colombia and Ecuador business, our standalone and growing midstream business, and our potentially transformational offshore exploration program in Guyana. As Gabriel mentioned, during the quarter, we successfully refinanced Puerto Bahia's legacy project finance debt. This new financing extends the borrowing center by three years on a weighted basis. Importantly, this credit agreement also includes additional flexibility, including an accordion feature for up to $30 million, which may be drawn by Puerto Bahia, to fund additional investment opportunities, including potential liquids and dry terminal expansion projects. This financing was tailored to meet the business growth plans. Furthermore, in consistent with the strategy, the new loan is supported exclusively by the cash flows from our mainstream business. This financing is non-recourse to Frontera. Subsequent to the quarter, Frontera announced it had designated Frontera Energy Guyana Holding Limited and Frontera Energy Guyana Corporation as unrestricted subsidiaries in accordance with the terms and conditions of the indenture. As a result of the assassination as an unrestricted subsidiary, Frontera Energy Guyana Corporation automatically ceased to be a no guarantor pursuant to Section 7.12 of the indenture. In accordance with the indenture, the company utilizes available restricted payment capacity to effect the assassination. I would highlight that since 2021, Frontera has generated in excess of $1 billion in consolidated net income as defined in the indenture. The capacity available under the restricted payments covenant was sufficient to undertake such a transaction. With respect to the Frontera Guyana transaction that I just highlighted, the company utilized the most recent available information including the recent JOA amendment transaction involving from Tenancy GX completed to the third quarter 2022, as well as the most recently available information to determine the firm market value as required. As our chairman highlighted, this designation is consistent with the company's share priorities and supports the ongoing capital discipline of the business. With respect to the company's NCIB, we repurchased approximately 500,000 shares of the company's common shares for cancellation for approximately 4.2 million. In total, we've repurchased 4.3 million common shares as part of our NCIB program that just recently ended on March 16th. This number equates to roughly 89% of the program's shares available for repurchase. And finally, we would like to thank our investors for the ongoing questions and interest in our company. In response to these questions, we have included additional information this quarter that shall further add clarity with respect to important aspects of our businesses. Within our revenues and operating cost disclosures, you will find additional details about our crew purchases and their subsequent sales. These purchases are primarily linked to our deal-on activity as we blend our own production to reach the desired quality for transport and exports. Second, we have added additional disclosure information related to our mystery in business. This additional information is meant to provide a better understanding and visibility to our investors for this core business and includes certain non-IFRS measures such as proportional EBITDA measure. A reconciliation of these non-IFRS measures can be found in our MD&A. I would like to now turn it back the call to Orlando.
Thank you, Rene. Before I wrap up today's call, I would like to take a moment to highlight some recent recognition Frontera has received for its commitment to ESG. On March 13, Frontera was recognized for a third straight year by Ethisphere, a global leader in defining and advancing the standards of ethical business practices as one of the 2023 world's most ethical companies. In 2023, 135 honorees were recognized spanning 19 countries and 48 industries. Frontera was one of only two honorees in the oil and gas industry. On January 31st, Frontera was included in the 2023 Bloomberg Gender Equality Index, a modified market capitalization-weighted index developed to gauge the performance of public companies dedicated to reporting gender-related data. This reference index measures gender equality across five pillars, leadership and talent pipeline, equal pay and gender pay parity, inclusive culture, anti-sexual harassment policies, and external brand. Frontera was also recognized in the first quarter as a top 20 best place to work in Colombia by the Great Place to Work Institute and achieved ISO certification for its operations in Ecuador and its recognition for operations safety. It was also recognized by Friendly Beast for our LGBT plus friendly workplace. Looking ahead to the second quarter, We expect improved profitability throughout the rest of the year as we advance our development portfolio in Colombia and Ecuador. We anticipate growth in our water handling infrastructure and facilities capacity in both KIFA and CP6 as we lay the foundation for the company's path to grow production to 50,000 barrels per day. We will leverage our advantage transportation and logistic structure to maximize realized prices. We will mature our self-sustaining and growing midstream business. And we will complete operations at the Weigh One Well in Guyana. With that, I would like to conclude by saying thank you to Gabriel and René for the comments, and thank you for everyone for attending our call. I will now turn the call back to our operator who will open the call for questions.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now begin the question and answer session. Should you have a question, please press star followed by the one on your touchtone phone. You will hear a three-tone prompt acknowledging your request and your questions will be pulled in the order they are received. Should you wish to decline from the pulling process, please press star followed by the two. If you are using a speakerphone, please lift the handset before pressing any keys. One moment, please, for your first question. Your first question comes from Oriana Kovolt with Balance. Please go ahead.
Hi, thanks for taking my question. This is Oriana Kovolt with Balance. My first, I had a couple of questions, so if we could go one by one, that would be great. Starting maybe with the revised costs for way one, Just to understand the main catalyst that you see for cash generation and how would you expect if this additional cost and your remaining CapEx through the year, do you remain of the view of it being fully funded with internal cash generation?
So, hi, Oriana, and good morning. As always, thank you for participating. I think you had more than one question within that question, so maybe we can break it down a little bit more. In our MD&A, you will find the recent breakdown and updated breakdown related to our updated CapEx views. I think what this translates to is roughly 10 to 20 more million dollars in expenditures from what we have previously guided the market to. And I think I would point to what Orlando said, that we are committed to finishing successfully and also finishing safely the drilling of the way one well. I'll throw it back to you to see if there's any particular more detailed questions you want me to answer.
Yeah, just thinking of the cash generation and your full CapEx program for the year, how do you see seeing that the cash burned during the first quarter? How much is it remaining in Guyana, and how do you expect to fund the remaining of your CapEx program through the year?
Got it. I think that we've highlighted to the market that we have a – At CAPEX expectation, you know, call it, I think it's $400 to $475 million, depending on, you know, our ranges. What I would like to highlight there is that you talk about, because you're talking about two different things, right? Funding Guyana, you know, we are only one part of the JV Association to fund Guyana, so we believe that we have sufficient capital to fund, you know, the required amount to fulfill the needs related to the wealth. As it relates to our program, the getting our guidance is that we will be able to fund the expectations of our guidance as we present it to the market. So I'm a little bit, sorry, I'm going to throw the question back to you. I'm a little bit just confused by your question.
No, but I think the bottom line here, Oriana, is that we, I mean, as Rene said and as I said earlier, I mean, we remain committed to complete the well, and that is within our CAPEX guidance. Yep.
I understand. Maybe just one final one, and it has to do with the wider differentials that you've seen across for Colombian crude oil. So just to understand if you can share some views on what are you seeing that is driving this, and what are your expectations for the remainder of the year?
Look, I would say it's two things. What we can highlight is that wider differentials in the first quarter, I think we've seen an easing of that. I think we're seeing improved terms now. And I would highlight that the real reason driving that is the market that we live in today. I think that the Russia conflict, the different things that are happening globally are really driving a lot of volatility in these markets. I mean, you've seen the recent price action related to oil today, despite what we believe to be a very tidal market. And this type of volatility is driving a lot of those differences. To clarify, I think that we're now seeing a – the differentials have come down. We've seen an improved environment during the second quarter. Yes, in the second quarter.
Got it. Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Your next question comes from Roman Rossi with Canaccord Genuity. Please go ahead.
Good morning, guys, and thanks for taking my question. So just as a follow-up on Oriana's question regarding weight, Looking at DGX financial statements, it seems they don't have enough cash to fund their share, right? I just wanted to have any comments from you if you are on discussions around providing more financing or any sort of financial support for DGX.
No, Roman, thank you for the question. I mean, we cannot, Frontera cannot comment on CGX plans. As we said, I mean, the JV remains committed to complete the will, but it's difficult for us to make any comment on CGX plans.
Okay, thank you. And just another question regarding the crypto changes. Even though the disclosures are better, I just wanted to ask you how should we think about crude purchases going forward? Is there a way to project it?
And look, I think it's a good thing that you asked that. So all these crude purchases are volume-driven, and all we're trying to do, I think as I said in my remarks, this is the crude that we acquire so that we can get our, and you know that we're a mostly heavier oil company, we can take crude, get it to the desired spec, transport it, and export it. So let us work with you and Brent and the team, and we can give you guys a little more clarity on the numbers that we presented. You know, it's just adjustable. But I would offer to just take it offline, and then we can help you, kind of guide you with that.
Okay, awesome. Thank you very much, Tony. Yep, absolutely.
Your next question comes from Anne Mild with Bank of America. Please go ahead.
Good morning. Thank you very much for the call. I also would like to thank you for the increased disclosure, which I noticed as I was going through your press release. That is very helpful. I have a few questions. One, I'm just wondering right now how you're thinking with what you're seeing in the Colombian market about the future prospects for the Puerto Bahia, the two terminals that you have there, and what types of growth rates I guess you could see. The second question is on your water handling at KIFA. I think you said it's at 1.5 million barrels a day. And I just want to confirm, will this be growing this year, and how much will it be growing by? Third question, sorry, but this is on taxes. Renee, I know you mentioned that was one of the reasons for the increase in working capital, but I also see that income taxes paid increase. Is all of the increase both in the taxes paid and working capital related to taxes due to the new taxation that's coming in? And then I guess the final very, very general question is first full quarter under the new government, how are you looking at or what are you watching for in terms of new or additional decisions that might be made with respect to the oil sector? Nothing has been... made so far. I know there have been some blockades, but that's not really directly. So just wondering if there's anything you're watching out for, particularly after the Cabinet changes. Thank you.
Why don't you take the Porto Valle and the tax, and I can take the water handling and the last one.
So on the – and a lot of questions, so please remind us if we – I don't have a piece of paper with me, so I didn't take note, but I'm going to try from memory. And I think I drank my vitamins this morning, so I think I'm good. So on the Puerto Vallarta, I think this is a port that was built in 2015 that we believe that has significant room to grow, both on the liquid side and also on the dry port side. As we think about volumes, I think that today that port has significant volume capacity to transport additional liquids. So capturing that flow of additional liquids into Colombia will be critical for us to continue to grow that. Today, I think we're roughly at close to 70,000 barrels a day of managed liquids. And this is up already from a number that was a couple of years ago, probably closer to the 40s. So our focus now is to continue to increase that. And you can imagine that a port is also all about throughput because we earn money by actually flowing more oil through it, not just necessarily holding or storing the oil through the port. So that's one side. And we are looking at several strategic projects that can improve on that. On the other side, today we have a really good business on the rural side. I think we are the number one market share in the country related to this roll-on, roll-off cargo. But I think that that is one aspect of the business that remains to be underutilized We have, you know, several hectares of expansion capability for the port for us to kind of target. Second, we're looking at potential expansion into the container port business. And all of these together, you know, better use of our existing land, better use of our capabilities to have stacking capabilities related to, you know, management more cargo should be key drivers of a potential and potential drivers for additional profitability over Puerto Vallarta. Does that answer at least your question? And maybe, you know, one thing that we can do, Anne, is we can walk you through, you know, a presentation of the report and kind of highlight and pinpoint in particular detail where we see that expansion, you know, how much capacity and volume, because we certainly have that prepared, and we'll, you know, we'll gladly share that with you.
Okay, yeah, just if there's anything that you think will be in 2023, an important growth there, that's all. The 2023... The other one later on, hmm?
Yeah, so 2023, I think it's more organic growth. I think some of these strategic projects, we hope that we will be able to tap in 2023. We're focused on tapping those. But right now, I think most of the growth you'll see is from continuing to capture more market share from existing players, continuing to realign our ports so we can capture more cargo, and also more liquids flows.
Okay, perfect. Thank you, Rene.