VAALCO Energy - Earnings Call - Q4 2019

Transcript

Speaker 0

Good day, and welcome to the VAALCO Energy, Inc. Fourth Quarter and Year End twenty nineteen Earnings Conference Call. All participants will be in listen only mode. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Please note this event is being recorded.

I would now like to turn the conference over to your host today, Al Petrie, Investor Relations Coordinator. Please go ahead, sir.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Keith. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to VAALCO Energy's fourth quarter and full year twenty nineteen conference call. After I cover the forward looking statements, Cary Bounds, our Chief Executive Officer, will review key highlights along with operational results. Liz Prochnow, our Chief Financial Officer, will then provide a more in-depth financial review. Carrie will then return for some closing comments before we take your questions.

During our question and answer session, we ask you to limit your questions to one and the follow-up. You can always reenter the queue with additional questions. I'd like to point out that we posted an updated investor deck on our website this morning that has additional financial analysis, comparisons and guidance that should be helpful. With that, let me proceed with our forward looking statements comments. During the course of this conference call, the company will be making forward looking statements.

Investors are cautioned that forward looking statements are not guarantees of future performance, and those actual results or developments may differ materially from those projected in the forward looking statements. Falco disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. Accordingly, you should not place undue reliance on forward looking statements. These and other risks are described in yesterday's press release, the presentation we posted on our website this morning and in the reports we file with the SEC, including the 10 ks that was filed yesterday. Please note that this conference call is being recorded.

Let me turn it over

Speaker 2

to Carey. Thank you, Al. Good morning, everyone, and welcome to our fourth quarter and year end twenty nineteen earnings conference call. Before I discuss our results, I would like to reflect on a number of significant accomplishments we achieved over the past several years. In 2018, we were able to pay off all of our outstanding debt and start building our cash position to fund the drilling program.

Also in 2018, we were able to negotiate a PSC extension of up to twenty years that provided VAALCO the runway to maximize value, grow reserves and increase production from our world class asset offshore Gabon. In the 2019, we were able to remove financial risk and uncertainty by completing a settlement agreement with Sonangol to exit Angola with no outstanding liabilities and obligations for VAALCO. On September 2639, we began trading on the London Stock Exchange, which complements our listing on the New York Stock Exchange by providing us the opportunity to diversify our shareholder base, attract additional research coverage and provide VAALCO with access to additional sources of capital to help fund our growth objectives. Also in September, we kicked off our twenty nineteen-twenty twenty drilling campaign by drilling the Etame 9P appraisal wellbore. This was the first step in a drilling program, which has thus far resulted in two successful appraisal wells, two development wells that are exceeding production expectations and another development well that should be adding production when it is completed and brought online later this month.

As a result of our operational excellence, we have increased production meaningfully since the 2019, and we expect 2020 production to be approximately 35% higher than our actual 2019 average production rate. I would like to thank all of our employees and contractors for their hard work and contribution to these critical milestones. With that said, these past few days have seen prices decline below $40 per barrel for Brent crude as a result of macro concerns on both the supply and demand side. This is a cyclical business, and we are well positioned to manage through this downturn by focusing on both operating expenses as well as capital expenditures. As Liz will discuss in more detail, we estimate our 2020 operational breakeven cost to be approximately $31 per barrel based on 2020 production guidance, and cash at year end was $45,900,000 VAALCO will continue to evaluate all uses of cash and whether to pursue further growth opportunities in light of the dynamic commodity price environment right now.

Turning to operational results. In the 2019, we produced an average of 3,664 net barrels of oil per day, which was above the high end of our guidance range of 3,100 to 3,500 net barrels of oil per day as a result of strong production from the Etame 9H well. For the full year, production averaged 3,476 net barrels of oil per day. We announced in our release yesterday that we expect production in the 2020 to be in the range of 4,700 to 5,000 net barrels of oil per day. For the full year 2020, we expect production to be in the range of 4,400 to 5,000 barrels of oil per day.

The significant increase in 2020 production is driven by our successful drilling campaign. This increase in volumes should help generate solid EBITDAX even in a lower price environment. In the fourth quarter, we reported strong adjusted EBITDAX of $10,400,000 And for the full year 2019, we generated $37,500,000 in adjusted EBITDAX. Our unit operating costs declined in the fourth quarter due to the fact that approximately 90% of our costs are fixed and we can add production with minimal increase in cost, which significantly improves overall margins. Now I'd like to give you additional details on the many achievements we have made during our twenty nineteen-twenty twenty drilling campaign that we are in the process of completing now.

All of the accomplishments through mid-twenty nineteen that I highlighted earlier paved the way for our drilling campaign that began in September. The most important accomplishment was the PSC Extension in Gabon. As part that extension, we committed to drilling at least two development wells and two appraisal wellbores by September 2020. As previously announced, the Etame 9P appraisal wellbore was drilled successfully and encountered both the Gamba and Dentale reservoirs. Based on the information we gathered in the Etame 9P appraisal wellbore, the Gamba oil column was thicker than predrill expectations, which was a positive indicator for both the Etame 9H and Etame 11H development wells targeting the Gamba Reservoir.

In addition, preliminary analysis indicated that the Etame 9P appraisal wellbore encountered at least 45 feet of good quality Dentale oil sands with estimated gross recoverable oil resources of 5,000,000 to 6,000,000 barrels of oil in the Dentale reservoir. These Dentale resources could be the target of future drilling campaigns. Following the platform and drilled two development wells, the Etame 9H and Etame 11H. Both wells exceeded production expectations and have helped boost our production significantly since the fourth quarter of last year. The Etame 9H was brought online at 5,500 barrels of oil per day gross or 1,500 barrels of oil per day net to VAALCO in December.

And the Etame 11H was brought online in January at 5,200 barrels of oil per day gross or 1,400 barrels of oil per day net to VAALCO. After completion of the Etame 11H development well, the rig remained on the Etame platform to perform a planned workover on the Etame 10H well. This was done to optimize workover costs by using the drilling rig to replace an electric submersible pump that had failed during 2019. We were successful with that workover and brought the well back online in January 2020. It is currently producing at a rate of seven thirty barrels of oil per day gross or 200 barrels of oil per day net to VAALCO.

At around the same time in late twenty nineteen, we also restored production from the Etame 4H well by repairing the subsea wellhead. The well was brought online in December 2019 and is currently flowing at a rate of approximately 700 barrels of oil per day gross or 190 barrels of oil per day net to VAALCO. Following the successful workover of the Etame Etame 10H well, we moved the rig to the Southeast Etame North Chibala platform to drill the Southeast Etame 4P appraisal wellbore to evaluate a Gamba step out area in Southeast Etame. The Southeast Etame 4P appraisal wellbore verified the presence of good quality Gamba oil sands in the step out area. We then drilled the Southeast Etame 4H development well and encountered approximately seven fifty feet of good quality Gamba Reservoir in the horizontal section.

We have now fully satisfied our drilling commitment as part of the PSC Extension that we signed in 2018. Once we complete the Southeast Etame 4H well, we plan to conduct two workovers and likely release the rig in April. While we had some initial cost overruns, primarily in the Etame 9P appraisal wellbore, we have been able to make those costs up with efficient drilling and completion operations. We now believe that our total capital cost will be $29,000,000 which is within the original forecast of $25,000,000 to $30,000,000 net to VAALCO for all three development wells and both appraisal wellbores. Additionally, I'm very proud to say that there have been no environmental or safety incidents during the twenty nineteen-twenty twenty drilling campaign, and we have not encountered H2S in either the Gamba or Dentale reservoirs in this drilling campaign.

As you can see, the program was very successful, and we remain excited about the long term opportunities at Etame. Our vision is to repeat similar drilling programs and continue adding reserves and production over the next several years at Etame. After the completion of the Southeast Etame 4H well, we plan to perform at least two more preemptive workovers to replace ESPs. On March 7, the Southeast Etame 2H well stopped producing due to an ESP failure. The well was originally brought online in July 15, and the ESP has lasted through its design life of five years, and the failure was not premature.

The drilling rig is on the SENT platform now and was already scheduled to replace the ESP in the 2H well after finishing the Southeast Etame 4H well. The impact of the ESP failure is estimated to be ten days of deferred production for the Southeast Etame 2H well, and the well was producing 2,400 barrels of oil per day gross or six fifty barrels of oil per day net when the ESP failed. After this workover, we will perform at least one additional workover to preemptively replace ESPs that are still operating but near the end of their design life. Next, I would like to spend a few minutes talking about our year end reserves. As a result of our drilling program, we added 1,100,000 barrels of net SEC proved reserves through a combination of converting probable reserves to proved developed reserves plus other performance additions that were offset by a downward revision of 200,000 barrels of oil net due to lower average crude oil prices.

VAALCO's SEC reserves at December 3139, were 5,000,000 barrels of oil net. The PV-ten value of these proved SEC reserves at year end 2019 decreased to $70,400,000 from $80,100,000 at December 3138. The twenty nineteen second pricing used in the PV-ten calculation was $63.6 per barrel of crude oil, which is the average of monthly Brent prices on the first day of each month for calendar year 2019 adjusted for price differentials. The twenty eighteen second pricing was $70.83 per barrel of crude oil. Our year end 2019 2P CPR estimate of proven plus probable reserves is 10,600,000 barrels of oil to VAALCO's working interest.

The PV-ten of VAALCO's 2P CPR reserves at year end 2019 is $109,000,000 The 2P CPR estimate of proven and probable reserves was prepared in accordance with PRMS standards using internal assumptions at year end for future Brent escalated crude oil pricing and operating costs. Our year end 2019 reserves were fully engineered by VAALCO's third party independent reserve consultant, Netherlands Sewell and Associates. They are very familiar with our assets and have provided annual independent estimates of VAALCO's year end reserves for over fifteen years. I would now like to give you a quick update on our activity in Equatorial Guinea. As a reminder, VAALCO has a 31% working interest in Block P offshore Equatorial Guinea.

On November 1239, the Equatorial Guinea Ministry of Mines and Hydrocarbons approved VAALCO's appointment as operator for Block P. We are currently waiting on an amendment to our production sharing contract to finalize our appointment as operator and begin activities in Block P. We have also entered into commercial discussions with Levine Hydrocarbon Limited to potentially cover all or substantially all of VAALCO's cost to drill an exploratory well in exchange for an assignment of a portion of VAALCO's working interest in Block P to Laveen. VAALCO would also serve as a non operator I'm sorry, as a non owner operator under a service agreement with Laveen on Blocks 34 And 19 in Equatorial Guinea. We have executed a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with Levine regarding the commercial discussions.

However, we do not have binding agreements in place, and government approval of the agreements between VAALCO and Levine must be obtained prior to completing the transaction. In summary, we remain committed to operational excellence while generating strong financial results. I believe that VAALCO is well positioned to succeed for many years to come. We have a strong debt free balance sheet, significant cash balance at year end twenty nineteen and a stable production base, all of which provide flexibility for the future. With that, I would like to turn the call over to Liz to share our financial results.

Speaker 3

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. As Carrie mentioned, we have accomplished many things over the past eighteen months with strong operational results from our twenty nineteen-twenty twenty drilling campaign that should support our 2020 financial results. In the 2019, we reported net income of $1,000,000 or $02 per diluted share. This included the impact from a non cash charge of $3,100,000 or $05 per diluted share for mark to market loss related to our crude oil swaps, a non cash expense for stock based compensation of $700,000 share and a $1,700,000 or $03 per diluted share tax benefit related to the decrease in the valuation allowance on deferred tax assets. Adjusted net income for the 2019 totaled $5,500,000 or $09 per diluted share after adding back the 3,100,000.0 in non cash mark to market losses related to the swaps and non cash deferred income tax expense of $1,000,000 and excluding a small gain of $400,000 For the full year of 2019, net income was $2,600,000 or $04 per diluted share.

This was primarily impacted by non cash expense of $14,500,000 or $0.24 per diluted share related to deferred income tax expense, a $4,400,000 or $07 per diluted share charge related to the resolution of a legacy issue related to a joint venture owners audit findings for the periods from 2007 through 2016 and a non cash expense of $2,900,000 or $05 per diluted share related to unrealized losses on crude oil swaps. These were partially offset by a $5,400,000 gain or $09 per diluted diluted share net of tax related to discontinued operations. Excluding the net impact of these items as well as a small gain which to total 16,000,000 adjusted net income for the full year 2019 was $18,600,000 or $0.31 per diluted share. Adjusted EBITDAX grew to $10,400,000 in the 2019, which was improved over the third quarter due to increased sales volumes and slightly higher pricing. For the full year of 2019, we generated $37,500,000 of adjusted EBITDAX, which has helped us fund our capital program and remain free cash flow positive for the year.

Fourth quarter twenty nineteen oil sales totaled 318,000 net barrels compared with 401,000 net barrels in the same period a year ago and 279,000 net barrels in the 2019. Third quarter twenty nineteen sales volumes were impacted primarily by lower production volumes during the quarter, which was the result of the planned full field maintenance shutdown that occurred in August 2019. The year over year difference was primarily due to crude oil inventory timing. Revenues for the 2018 benefited from higher sales volumes due to higher beginning crude oil inventory that was drawn down to normal levels during that quarter. For the 2020, we expect sales to increase to between 350,400 net barrels as a result of higher estimated production from the new development wells, the Etame 9H and the Etame 11H, which came online in December and January respectively.

Our realized oil price for the 2019 averaged $65.8 per barrel, up $07 from $61.26 in the 2019 and slightly higher by 2% compared to $64.52 in the 2018. For the full year 2019, realized crude oil sales price was $65.2 per barrel or 7% lower than the $70.32 per barrel that was realized for the full year 2018. In the fourth quarter, we recorded non cash mark to market unrealized loss related to our crude oil swaps at $3,100,000 while we realized a cash gain of $400,000 on the swaps, which settled during the quarter. These swap agreements are at Dated Brent weighted average price of $66.7 per barrel. As of December 3139, there were swaps outstanding for 275,000 barrels for the period from and including January through June 2020 and protect approximately one third of our production for that period.

We will continue to evaluate ways to mitigate risk, ensure cash flows for future drilling programs and allow for upside to rising commodity prices through our hedging program. Turning to expenses, total production expense excluding workovers for the 2019 was $9,800,000 or $30.7 per barrel of oil sales at the low end of the previous guidance at $30 to $36 per barrel. Fourth quarter costs per net barrel decreased compared with $34.1 per barrel in the 2019, but was higher than the $23.84 per barrel in the 2018, primarily due to the higher sales volumes in the 2018. For the 2020, we expect production expense excluding workovers to be between $9,000,000 and $11,000,000 or $21.5 per net barrel to $24.5 Production expense per barrel for the quarter is expected to decline significantly due to higher sales volumes from our successful twenty nineteen-twenty twenty drilling campaign. As a reminder, given that approximately 90% of our production costs are fixed, every incremental barrel of production and sales significantly improves our per barrel metrics.

For the full year 2019, total production expense declined to $30,700,000 compared to $40,400,000 in 2018 with the decrease primarily due to lower workover and personnel related costs, partially offset by higher transportation and customs costs. On a per net barrel basis, 2019 was $30.13 compared to $28.3 in 2018 due to lower sales volumes. For the full year 2020, we expect our total production expense excluding workovers to be approximately $37,000,000 to $42,000,000 and the per net barrel range of $21 to $25 We also expect our workover expenses to be between $6,000,000 and $8,000,000 for the year. We performed one workover in the first quarter and will perform two workovers upon completion of the Southeast Etame 4 H development well that is currently being completed. Therefore, we expect most of our workover expense in 2020 will be incurred in the first and second quarters.

DD and A for the fourth quarter twenty nineteen was $2,100,000 or $6.64 per net barrel of oil. This compares to $2,300,000 or $5.75 per net barrel in the twenty eighteen fourth quarter and $1,500,000 or $5.41 per net barrel in the 2019. The increase in the 2019 reflects the additional costs associated with the new Etame 9P appraisal wellbore and Etame 9H well. For 2020, we expect additional costs associated with the 2019 and 2020 drilling campaign to drive the DD and A rate higher and we expect the range to be between $8 and $10 per net barrel of sales. General and administrative expense for the 2019, excluding non cash stock compensation was $2,200,000 or $6.96 per net barrel of oil as compared to $2,300,000 or $5.78 per net barrel of oil in the 2018 and $3,600,000 or $12.8 per net barrel of oil in the 2019.

The expense for the third quarter was higher due to the increased professional fees associated with our listing on the London Stock Exchange, as well as our growth initiatives. We expect our first quarter twenty twenty gs and A excluding non cash compensation to be between 2,500,000.0 and $4,000,000 For the full year 2019, G and A excluding non cash compensation was $11,300,000 an increase of 26% compared with full year 2018 gs and A excluding non cash compensation of $9,000,000 The increase year over year is primarily due to accounting and audit fees, legal and other professional service costs associated with VAALCO's London Stock Exchange listing as well as our growth initiatives. For the full year 2020, we forecast our cash G and A to be between $10,000,000 and $12,000,000 Non cash stock based compensation was $700,000 during the three months ended December 3139 as compared to a credit of $1,300,000 in the comparable 2018 period and $1,200,000 expense in the 2019. Non cash stock based compensation expense for the years ended December 3139 and December 3138 were $3,500,000 and $2,400,000 respectively. For 2020, we expect our full year non cash stock based compensation expense to be between $2,000,000 and 4,500,000.0 Income tax expense for the 2019 was $4,200,000 comprised of $1,800,000 of deferred tax expense and a current tax provision of $2,400,000 In the same period in 2018, income tax expense was $11,300,000 which included $9,300,000 of deferred tax expense and $2,000,000 in current tax.

The large decrease in the deferred tax expense between the 2019 and the 2018 is primarily attributable to Gabon income taxes, which were impacted by the decrease in revenues, as well as a $1,700,000 benefit related to a change in valuation allowance on deferred tax assets. In the 2019, tax expense totaled $7,700,000 and was comprised of $5,100,000 of deferred tax expense and a current tax provision of $2,600,000 As detailed on Slide 25 of the investor presentation deck posted this morning on our website, we currently estimate that VAALCO's operational breakeven price in 2020 is approximately $31 per net barrel of oil sales and our free cash flow breakeven price in 2020 is approximately $38.5 per net barrel of oil sales with both amounts excluding workover expense, but excluding CapEx. As we have added new production on existing platforms with minimal additional costs, we are projecting a strong increase in our margin, thus driving down our breakeven price. In general terms, we estimate that each $5 increase in realized oil price increases our annual adjusted EBITDAX by approximately $6,000,000 This clearly shows our strong leverage to higher oil prices. At the 2019, we had an unrestricted cash balance of $45,900,000 This does not include an additional $900,000 of restricted cash primarily related to deposits in Gabon classified as current assets or the additional $900,000 of restricted cash classified as long term.

In addition, VAALCO has $11,400,000 of restricted cash for the future abandonment cost of the Etame field classified as a non current asset. Working capital from continuing operations at December 3139 totaled $18,300,000 Since inception of the stock repurchase program authorized by the Board of Directors in June 2019 through December 3139, we have purchased nearly 2,100,000.0 shares of our common stock at an average price of $1.0.8 representing a total investment of approximately $3,700,000 This represents 3.5% of the 59,800,000.0 shares of common stock outstanding as of June 3039. Despite the weakness in oil prices, VAALCO's cash position remains very strong. We have fully funded our twenty nineteen-twenty twenty drilling program at Etame from cash on hand and cash flow from operations. In 2019, we invested about $10,300,000 on a cash basis and twenty two point two million dollars on an accrual basis with the capital expenditures, primarily for the drilling program.

For the 2020, VAALCO expects net capital expenditures to be in the range of $10,000,000 to $12,000,000 nearly all of which is related to the twenty nineteen-twenty twenty drilling campaign. As Carrie mentioned, the total cost of the twenty nineteen-twenty twenty drilling campaign has able to offset some higher costs at the beginning of the program and is now estimated approximately $29,000,000 within the original estimate of $25,000,000 to $30,000,000 The full twenty nineteen-twenty twenty drilling program includes three development wells and two appraisal wellbores. We anticipate that the drilling and completion portion of the program will be completed in mid March. Given the current uncertainty in the macro pricing environment, we are evaluating our capital expenditures for the balance of 2020. We will continue to manage all uses of cash in light of the ongoing economic conditions.

With this, I will now turn the call back over to Carey.

Speaker 2

Thanks, Liz. Over the past several years, we have worked diligently to strengthen our financial position and create opportunities for growth. In 2019, we made considerable progress towards our strategic objectives and have built a solid foundation for the future. VAALCO has a strong producing asset with significant upside in Gabon. We expect to generate solid operational cash flow in 2020 with the additional production from our successful drilling program.

We will continue to make efforts to repeat similar drilling programs and continue adding reserves and production over the next several years. Our 2020 production guidance is 35% higher than our 2019 full year production average. This should help drive increased sales and with our low variable costs should lead to increasing margins. With a clean balance sheet that is debt free and over $45,000,000 in cash on hand at year end, we have flexibility for the future. We will continue to carefully manage the aspects of our business that impact our ability to generate cash flow.

Thank you. And with that, operator, we are ready to take questions.

Speaker 0

Yes, thank you. We will now begin the question and answer session. And the first question comes from John Wright with ROTH Capital.

Speaker 4

Good morning.

Speaker 2

Good morning, John.

Speaker 4

Maybe I missed the detail, but is there a common thread on sounds like there's been a number of ESP issues. Is there an element in common among those?

Speaker 2

No, no, there is not. We replaced an ESP that had failed in the Etame 10H workover that was back in December. That ESP had run for four point five, a little over four point five years. That is the design life for the ESP. So that was not unexpected.

And then, yes, you picked up that we had an ESP fail over the weekend recently at Southeast Etame 2H. Again, that ESP had run for over four point five years and that's the design life. So that was not unexpected. In fact, we were planning already to replace the ESP, it just failed a few days before the rig got there. So none of this is alarming to us.

It's all part of our plans.

Speaker 4

Okay. Well, I'm glad you could reiterate that and sounds like it's under control. The 2020 production guidance looks impressive and your recent drilling activities, congratulations on those efforts.

Speaker 2

Thank you, John.

Speaker 4

Thank you.

Speaker 0

Thank you. And the next question comes from Bill Dezellem with Tieton Capital.

Speaker 5

Thank you. The end of Liz's remarks, that you're evaluating ways that you can reduce costs. Would you two talk about kind of what you see that you can do to cut costs in 2020? And can do, I guess, like you said from plan on doing. And so talk more about what you think you likely would do.

And then final piece of this, what will be the implications to production this year and next year?

Speaker 2

Right, Bill, I want to be sure I understand your question. And so I think your first question is in regards to looking at ways to manage our costs in 2020. And certainly in light of the recent drop in oil prices, that is a focus. And then the second question was, and what impact will that have on production? Do I have your did I understand your questions correctly?

Speaker 5

Did and there actually was a there was a third question in there really differentiating between what you can do to reduce costs and what you likely would do. There may be some more draconian measures that you'll choose not to take this early in the year depending on your conviction of OPEC, the OPEC score mentioned and price is staying low for an extended period of time. But you're trying to grasp that difference between could do and likely will do.

Speaker 2

Right, right. Well, I'll say there are when we look at our costs, we look at projects that are operational focused. In other words, projects that are that we want to implement offshore in Gabon. And so there are some non discretionary projects that we will undertake this year and it goes to one of your questions. These projects are non discretionary because they help us sustain production and so that's things like improving the control systems on our platform.

Now we've looked at other projects where there are events where we're planning or preparing for the next drilling program. Those projects are discretionary. And so as we think about the timing of the next drilling program, we may defer those costs and or those projects, I should say and save those costs. Anyway, we will not sacrifice production for the sake of lowering costs And our cost structure is very low already. And so like I said, we have a few projects that we're going to do to ensure that we can sustain production.

But otherwise, we've got some discretionary projects that really go to supporting the next drilling campaign, we may push those out depending on what we decide on the timing of the next campaign. Bill, does that answer your question?

Speaker 5

It does. And so if you were I'll do a follow-up now. If you were to delay those discretionary costs in anticipation or preparation for the next drilling program, Does that imply that the drilling program would be delayed just because there's a natural timeline to these things? Or would it potentially compress the timeline if you chose at a later time to do the next drilling program as scheduled?

Speaker 2

Right, right. I think I understand your question. And right now, there's enough time between now and the next campaign where we would just compress the preparation work. And so we still have a lot of flexibility on when we start the next campaign.

Speaker 5

Great. And I'll do one final question and step back in queue. How late or how long can you delay those discretionary costs in preparation for the next drilling campaign and still be able to do the next campaign on the original timeline?

Speaker 2

I would say four to six months, something like that.

Speaker 5

Great. Thank you.

Speaker 2

Thank

Speaker 0

you. And the next question comes from Charlie Sharp

Speaker 6

Good morning to you both. A couple of questions, if I may. One is related to costs again and the other one is really related to reservoir performance and how you see that shaping up. The cost question is actually related to the oil price and the FPSO charter. And I think you have the FPSO on charter until late 'twenty two.

I just wonder, given the where the oil price has gone to, is now an opportune time to start negotiations on an extension for the FPSO hello?

Speaker 2

Sorry, Charlie. Go ahead.

Speaker 6

Sorry. I wonder if now is a good time to start negotiations on an extension to the FPSO lease, given where the oil price is that might be advantageous? And then the second very quick point is, or question, has that changed your overall view of the future potential of well recovery and the number of wells that might be needed on the license to recover all the potential resources?

Speaker 2

Right, right. Thank you, Charlie. So let me answer your first question on costs and in particular the FPSO. And you are correct, we have the FPSO under contract through September 2022. And we are in discussions with the owner operator of the FPSO, which is BW Offshore on either extending that or potentially extending that contract, but even renegotiating the contract now because and it's driven you're correct, it's driven by this is an opportune time, we agree.

But if we keep if we decide to keep the Nodipa FPSO, the FPSO we have today on station, you know, another ten or twenty years, we need to start investing in life extension work. And so that work needs to be done ahead of the contract expiration. So that means we're actually renegotiating or I'm sorry negotiating a new contract to extend the FPSO on station like I said for another ten to twenty years. Those conversations are going on now and so our options are extend the contract for the existing FPSO or replace the FPSO. So we are also talking to other FPSO providers as well.

And then to your second question on reservoir performance. Yes, the Etame 9H and Etame 11H wells are exceeding expectations. Those wells were positioned at the top of the reservoir in the Etame field and I congratulate our subsurface team, they picked fantastic locations for those wells. But right now we see that particular reservoir is fully developed. And so the way I think about it is our team has demonstrated their ability to choose very prolific locations to drill wells.

And so that's what we're working on right now is looking at other areas on the license where they can repeat that process. But particular reservoir, we think that reservoir is fully developed. And so the team is focused the subsurface team is focused on other areas on the license like the Southeast Etame step out area and looking as soon as we have results from our new well, they'll plug those into their models and interpretations and hopefully find some fantastic locations to drill.

Speaker 6

That's great. Thank you very much.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Charlie.

Speaker 0

Thank you. And the next question comes from Jimmy Willem with Willem Management.

Speaker 7

Right. Carey, following up on the FPSO, with the increased volume that we have, are we coming up on any capacity constraints within that?

Speaker 2

We have in terms of processing capacity, we have processing capacity up to 25,000 barrels a day. I hope we hit that constraint. We have not hit that constraint yet. But so we have plenty of processing capacity right now. And on the storage, we have plenty of storage as well and we're timing our lifting so that we don't run out of storage.

So right now everything's operating effectively and we do have plenty of capacity.

Speaker 7

Okay. On the Southeast 2H workover, that's offline now and your the rig is there. When would you expect that to be back online?

Speaker 2

We toward the end of the month, Jamie. We expect the Southeast Etame 2H to be back online.

Speaker 7

Okay. And with Equatorial Guinea, you talk about you've got a memorandum of understanding, but not a full agreement. Have you basically have you negotiated the terms with Levine and then just awaiting the government's approval? And that's one question. But secondly, what's holding up the government's approval from allowing everyone to move forward since it's in their best interest to gain additional drilling and potential tax base?

Speaker 2

Right, right. So let me answer the first question. On the agreements with Levine, yes, we have agreed to the terms, but we're finalizing the detailed agreements with Levine and that work is in progress. But in parallel, you're right, we're finalizing amendments to our PSC that would allow Levine to come into the Block P license and allow us to transfer some of our ownership to Levine. Now in terms of the government approving the documents, I really can't speak to what's delaying the process.

I do know that we are in constant communication with the government. And in fact, the Hydrocarbons Minister had planned to come to Houston, but unfortunately canceled his trip in light of the coronavirus. But so that was unfortunate. But anyway, we are in communication with them. They are talking to us.

We're setting up meetings. And so I expect something to happen fairly soon.

Speaker 7

Okay. And then once again, congratulations on developing a very well defined strategic plan both operationally and financially and really executing it in a very fine manner. We appreciate that to shareholders. Thank you.

Speaker 2

All right. Thank you, Jamie. Thank you, Jamie.

Speaker 0

Thank you. And the next question is a follow-up with Bill Dezellem with Titan Capital.

Speaker 5

Thank you. The last questioner covered it.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Bill.

Speaker 0

And this does conclude our question and answer session. At this time, I would like to turn the conference to Carey Bounds, CEO, for any closing comments.

Speaker 2

Yes. I would just like to thank everyone for joining us today, and enjoy the rest of your day. Goodbye for now.

Speaker 0

Thank you. The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines.