How Good Is The Canadian Three Forks? Crescent Point Reports 100% Drilling Success In 1Q14; Upwardly Revises Production For 2014; CAPEX Unchanged; New Discovery Is An Extension Of The Company's Three Forks Play In North Dakota; Water Flooding In Play

Based on page view numbers, this turned out to be one of my more visited posts: in Canada, the Three Forks is known as the Torquay.

So, how did Crescent Point do? If I recall (I scanned through it fairly quickly), it did okay. So, a more in-depth look.

Here's the press release. Some highlights:

• funds flow from operations: $1.45/share (1Q14) vs $1.20/share (1Q13)
• net income: $31 million (1Q14) vs a loss of $1.6 million (1Q13)
• average daily production: 119K bopd (1Q14) vs 107K (1Q13) -- a 12% increase
• average selling price: $93/bbl oil (1Q14) vs $80/bbl oil (1Q13)

The narrative:

• achieved a new production record in 1Q14, averaging 131K boepd
• that new record was weighted 91 percent to light and medium crude oil and liquids
• success rate of drilling: an astounding 100%
• drilling and development expenditures came in 10% under budget
• production levels were 5% over budget

What does this mean?

Crescent Point is upwardly revising its 2014 guidance while keeping expenditures unchanged

Other news:

• announced the delineation of a significant Torquay discovery at Flat Lake in southeast Saskatchean: in one year (12 months), Crescent Point grew net Torquay production from zero to 5,100 boepd; this is an extension of Crescent Point's Three Forks play in North Dakota
• Crescent Point's wells in that area of Saskatchewan have high rates of return, in part due to significantly lower capital costs relative to similarly drilled wells in North Dakota
• Crescent Point will acquire more acreage in this area by acquiring CanEra Energy Corp

Water-Flooding

To put the Company's significant waterflood program into perspective, the two largest pools in western Canada, the Weyburn Midale pool and the Pembina Cardium pool, are producing approximately 30,000 bbl/d and 60,000 bbl/d, respectively. Crescent Point's waterfloods are expected to ultimately lower production declines and improve rates of return on adjacent producing oil wells. Based on results to date, the Company estimates it has reduced decline rates by up to 10 percent in waterflood-affected areas compared to areas not under waterflood. 

****************************

USPS Update

Almost one year ago to the day, I posted that the USPS lost $1.9 billion in 2Q13.  So, one year later, where are we? Groundhog day: another $1.9 billion lost in 2Q14. Uncanny. Reuters is reporting:

The United States Postal Service ended its second quarter with a net loss of $1.9 billion, as first-class mail volumes continued to tumble and the government was unable to provide relief, the agency said on Friday.

Its net loss for the fiscal second quarter ended March 31 surpassed the first-quarter's loss of $354 million, but it remained flat from the year-ago quarter. It was the 20th of the last 22 quarters that the agency has posted a loss, USPS said.