Cenovus Energy Inc. (TSX:CVE) (NYSE:CVE) has entered into a
definitive agreement to sell its Pelican Lake heavy oil operations,
as well as other miscellaneous assets in northern Alberta for gross
cash proceeds of $975 million. The sale is expected to close on or
before September 30, 2017, subject to normal closing conditions.
Proceeds from the sale will be applied against the $3.6 billion
asset-sale bridge facility put in place to help fund Cenovus’s
acquisition of assets from ConocoPhillips earlier this year. With
the close of this asset sale, the company intends to retire the
first tranche of the bridge facility. The remaining two tranches
mature in November 2018 and May 2019.
“This represents a significant first step in our strategy to
optimize our asset portfolio and deleverage our balance sheet as
planned following the acquisition of the ConocoPhillips assets,”
said Brian Ferguson, Cenovus President & Chief Executive
Officer. “The divestiture processes for the remainder of our legacy
conventional assets are proceeding as expected, with strong
interest from potential buyers.”
The sale process for the company’s Suffield oil and natural gas
assets is well advanced. The company also has data rooms open for
its Palliser assets in southern Alberta as well as its Weyburn
carbon-dioxide enhanced oil recovery operation in Saskatchewan. In
addition, Cenovus has certain other non-core assets that are
currently being considered for sale. The company intends to apply
proceeds from these additional asset sales against its outstanding
debt and remains focused on reaching its target of being below two
times net debt to adjusted earnings before interest, taxes,
depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) in 2019.
CIBC Capital Markets and Barclays Capital Canada Inc. acted as
financial advisors to Cenovus for the Pelican Lake transaction.
Transaction summary |
Gross
proceeds ($ millions)1 |
$ |
975 |
Current
production (BOE/d)2 |
19,600 |
Operating
margin ($ millions)1,3,4 |
$ |
74 |
Price per
flowing barrel ($ per BOE/d)1 |
$ |
49,800 |
1 All dollar amounts are in Canadian currency unless
otherwise specified.2 Includes heavy oil production from the
Pelican Lake operations as well as some natural gas production from
other miscellaneous assets in northern Alberta. 3 Year-to-date
as of June 30, 2017.4 Operating margin is an additional subtotal.
For more information, refer to the Non-GAAP Measures and Additional
Subtotal section of the Advisory below.
ADVISORYProduction Presentation
Basis Cenovus presents production volumes on a
net to Cenovus before royalties basis, unless otherwise stated.
Non-GAAP Measures and Additional SubtotalThe
following measures do not have a standardized meaning as prescribed
by IFRS and therefore are considered non-GAAP measures. You should
not consider these measures in isolation or as a substitute for
analysis of our results as reported under IFRS. These measures are
defined differently by different companies in our industry. These
measures may not be comparable to similar measures presented by
other issuers.
Net debt to adjusted EBITDA is a ratio that management uses to
steward the company’s overall debt position as a measure of the
company’s overall financial strength. Net debt is defined as debt
net of cash and cash equivalents. Debt is defined as short-term
borrowings and long-term debt, including the current portion.
Adjusted EBITDA is defined as earnings before finance costs,
interest income, income tax expense, depreciation, depletion and
amortization, goodwill and asset impairments, unrealized gains or
losses on risk management, foreign exchange gains or losses, gains
or losses on divestiture of assets and other income and loss,
calculated on a trailing 12-month basis.
Operating Margin is an additional subtotal found in Note 1 and
Note 8 of the Interim Consolidated Financial Statements (unaudited)
for the period ended June 30, 2017 and is used to provide a
consistent measure of the cash generating performance of Cenovus’s
assets for comparability of its underlying financial performance
between periods. Operating Margin is defined as revenues less
purchased product, transportation and blending, operating expenses,
production and mineral taxes plus realized gains less realized
losses on risk management activities.
Forward-Looking InformationThis document
contains certain forward-looking statements and forward-looking
information (collectively referred to as “forward-looking
information”) within the meaning of applicable securities
legislation, including the United States Private Securities
Litigation Reform Act of 1995, about our current expectations,
estimates and projections about the future, based on certain
assumptions made by us in light of our experience and perception of
historical trends. Although we believe that the expectations
represented by such forward-looking information are reasonable,
there can be no assurance that such expectations will prove to be
correct.
Forward-looking information in this document is identified by
words such as “expect”, “intends”, “target”, “focus”, or
similar expressions and includes suggestions of future outcomes,
including statements about: Cenovus’s ability to close the asset
sale transaction in a timely manner; Cenovus's intention to apply
proceeds from this asset sale to debt; Cenovus's intention to
retire the first tranche of its asset-sale bridge facility with the
close of this asset sale transaction; Cenovus’s positioning to
proceed in a timely manner with further asset sales; Cenovus's
intention to apply proceeds from additional asset sales against its
outstanding debt; and Cenovus's target for net debt to adjusted
EBITDA. Readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on
forward-looking information as our actual results may differ
materially from those expressed or implied.
Developing forward-looking information involves reliance on a
number of assumptions and consideration of certain risks and
uncertainties, some of which are specific to Cenovus and others
that apply to the industry generally. The factors or assumptions on
which the forward-looking information is based include:
satisfaction of all conditions to the closing of the asset sale
transaction, including obtaining necessary regulatory and partner
approvals; successful closing of the asset sale transaction;
Cenovus’s successful completion of further asset sales, including
in a timely manner; application of asset sale proceeds against
outstanding debt in the manner as intended; and other risks and
uncertainties described from time to time in the filings Cenovus
makes with securities regulatory authorities.
The risk factors and uncertainties that could cause Cenovus's
actual results to differ materially include: risks inherent to
closing of the asset sale transaction, including obtaining
necessary regulatory or other third-party approvals and satisfying
other closing conditions in connection therewith; as well as the
other risk factors and uncertainties identified in Cenovus's Second
Quarter Report for the period ended June 30, 2017 (available on
SEDAR at sedar.com, on EDGAR at sec.gov and
Cenovus's website at cenovus.com), which remain accurate as of
the date of this release. Readers are cautioned that the foregoing
lists are not exhaustive and are made as at the date hereof. Events
or circumstances could cause our actual results to differ
materially from those estimated or projected and expressed in, or
implied by, the forward-looking information. For a full discussion
of Cenovus's material risk factors, see “Risk Factors” in our
Annual Information Form (AIF) or Form 40-F for the period ended
December 31, 2016 and the updates under "Risk Management" in
Cenovus’s Management’s Discussion and Analysis (MD&A) for the
period ended June 30, 2017.
Cenovus Energy Inc.Cenovus Energy Inc. is a
Canadian integrated oil company. It is committed to applying fresh,
progressive thinking to safely and responsibly unlock energy
resources the world needs. Operations include oil sands projects in
northern Alberta, which use specialized methods to drill and pump
the oil to the surface, and natural gas and oil production in
Alberta, British Columbia and Saskatchewan. The company also has
50% ownership in two U.S. refineries. Cenovus shares trade under
the symbol CVE, and are listed on the Toronto and New York stock
exchanges. For more information, visit cenovus.com.
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CENOVUS CONTACTS:
Investor Relations
Kam Sandhar
Vice-President, Investor Relations & Corporate Development
403-766-5883
Steven Murray
Manager, Investor Relations
403-766-3382
Media
Reg Curren
Senior Media Advisor
403-766-2004
Media Relations general line
403-766-7751
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