Athabasca Oil Corporation Reports Third Quarter 2013 Results
CALGARY, Oct. 30, 2013 – Athabasca Oil Corporation (TSX: ATH) (“Athabasca” or “the Company”) is pleased to report its third quarter 2013 results.
Athabasca has filed its financial statements and management’s discussion and analysis for the three and nine month periods ended September 30, 2013. These documents are available on the Company’s website www.atha.com and later this morning from SEDAR www.sedar.com.
Operations Update
Safety in the workplace is a prime focus for Athabasca. The Company is proud of the continued commitment to safety by its employees and contractors.
Light Oil
Production in the third quarter averaged 5,826 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d), within the guidance range previously provided. The Company made adjustments for prior period accruals, primarily dating back to February, 2012, resulting in reported production of 5,597 boe/d.
The scheduled shutdown of Keyera’s Simonette gas plant for maintenance and completion of the plant modifications in September lasted 25 days, five days longer than planned. Athabasca’s sour production was brought back on-line starting on October 1, 2013, with all tied-in wells on production by mid-October, 2013. Athabasca does not anticipate any restrictions from Keyera going forward. The Company expects to average 6,500 to 7,000 boe/d in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Athabasca is pleased with the strong performance of its three Duvernay horizontal wells along with the positive results reported by other industry operators in the Kaybob region. Athabasca is continuing to progress its strategy to hold and delineate its Duvernay land position. The Company currently has two rigs drilling in the Kaybob area, targeting four horizontal wells in the Duvernay formation. Athabasca is continuing with a formal joint venture process for itsDuvernay holdings. The Company holds 350,000 acres (net) of liquids-rich Duvernay potential, including 200,000 high-graded acres (net) near Kaybob. This high-graded acreage contains greater than 20 meters of shale pay and lies in the heart of the Duvernay Fairway.
Athabasca has sanctioned a small fourth quarter Montney drilling program in the Kaybob East area along with additional optimization of existing wells.
The Company entered into an option agreement with a third party giving Athabasca the right, at its discretion, to sell up to a 50% interest in its Kaybob area light oil infrastructure for cash consideration of up to $145 million. If exercised, the counterparty will have the right to acquire an equivalent interest in certain infrastructure assets in the Simonette area (also known as the Saxon area) of northwestern Alberta for cash consideration of up to an additional $15 million.Athabasca would remain operator of both the Kaybob and Simonette infrastructure assets. The option agreement does not prevent Athabasca from including the infrastructure related to the option agreement as part of a joint venture, other material transaction involving P&NG rights, or exploring other avenues to monetize the infrastructure.
