- Q4 2023 average sales and production of 15,033 bopd and 14,865 bopd, respectively
- 2023 average year on year production growth of 17% to 14,248 bopd
- Generated 2023 free funds flow of $91 million
- Returned over $61 million through dividends and share buybacks in 2023
- 2023 Return on Capital Employed of 30%
PetroTal has reported its operating and audited financial results for the three ('Q4') and twelve months ended December 31, 2023. All amounts herein are in United States dollars unless otherwise stated.
Selected Q4 and 2023 Highlights
- Average Q4 sales and production of 15,033 and 14,865 barrels ("bbls") of oil per day ("bopd"), respectively, impacted by a severe dry season and consequent low river levels that limited barge transport and tanker unloading capacity at Manaus;
- Average 2023 sales and production of 14,421 bbls and 14,248 bopd, respectively, within guidance range for the year and generating a production growth rate of 17% over 2022;
- 2023 return on capital employed of 30% compared to 49% in 2022;(1)
- Exited 2023 in a strong cash position with $111 million in total cash ($91 million unrestricted), after repaying $80 million of bonds in early 2023 and returning over $61 million in dividends and share buybacks in 2023;
- Capital expenditures ("capex") totaled $32.2 million in Q4 and were focused on drilling well 16H, bringing 2023 total capex spend to just over $108 million, lower than guidance of approximately $120 million;
- Successfully drilled three new oil wells and one water disposal well in 2023. During 2023, the three new oil wells produced nearly 1 million bbls of oil and generated approximately $45 million in net operating income representing nearly a full payout of their cost to drill by December 31, 2023;
- PetroTal successfully executed workover operations on wells 1XD and 2XD in May and June 2023, with both wells producing between 500 and 700 bopd since July 2023 and accumulating over 180,000 bbls of oil in the second half of 2023 thereby recovering their workover cost approximately 2.5 times by the end 2023;
- Generated Q4 EBITDA2 and free funds flow2 of $50.8 million ($36.71/bbl) and $8.1 million ($5.87/bbl), respectively, and 2023 EBITDA and free funds flow of $210.8 million ($40.06/bbl) and $90.7 million ($17.23/bbl) respectively and in line with cash flow guidance for 2023;
- Delivered Q4 net income of $21.5 million ($0.02/share) and over $110.5 million for 2023 ($0.12/share); and,
- Paid total dividends of $0.06/share and repurchased 11.3 million common shares in 2023, representing approximately $61 million of total capital returned to shareholders (approximately 11% of December 31, 2023, market capitalization).
(1) Return on capital employed = earnings before interest and tax ("EBIT") / (Total Assets - Current Liabilities)
(2) Non-GAAP (defined below) measure that does not have any standardized meaning prescribed by GAAP and therefore may not be comparable with the calculation of similar measures presented by other entities. See "Selected Financial Measures" section.
Manuel Pablo Zuniga-Pflucker, President and Chief Executive Officer, commented:
'PetroTal's operational and financial targets were achieved in 2023, increasing average production 17% over 2022, repaying $80 million in debt and returning over $61 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks. The Company managed through a challenging dry season, to achieve market guidance and exit December 2023 with production of approximately 20,000 bopd.
2024 is off to a record start having maintained nearly 19,000 bopd over the first two months in an eighty-dollar oil price environment, enabling us to maintain a robust cash position through the first quarter. With continued advancements on the OCP oil export pilot through Ecuador, the Company will continue to prioritize derisking oil sales so PetroTal can embark on new production growth projects.
With its strong, debt free, balance sheet, PetroTal will continue to evaluate accretive growth opportunities. I would like to thank shareholders for their continued support, as well as PetroTal's board of directors and the rest of the PetroTal team for their continued valuable contributions to our success.'
Source: PetroTal
