Yahoo Finance Why Did Continental Resources’ 1Q15 Production Surge?
Continental Resources Posts 1Q15 Loss, but Production Increases
Production rises
In 1Q15, Continental Resources’ (CLR) oil and gas production increased compared with 1Q14. Its overall crude oil equivalent production volume increased 36% to 206.8 Mboepd (or thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day) in 1Q15, from 152.5 Mboepd in 1Q14.
Continental Resources’ (CLR) crude oil production increased 35%, while natural gas production increased 37% from 1Q14 to 1Q15.
Oil and natural gas price realizations in 1Q15 were 57% and 62% lower than 1Q14 price realizations, respectively.
Production exceeded estimates
In 1Q15, Continental Resources’ actual production exceeded analysts’ consensus estimates by 1%. On average, however, actual production fell short of consensus estimated production by 15% in the past five quarters.
In comparison, SM Energy’s (SM) actual production exceeded consensus estimates production by 8% in 1Q15, while Ultra Petroleum’s (UPL) production exceeded estimates by 2% in 1Q15. On the other hand, Newfield Exploration’s (NFX) production fell short of estimates by 3% in 1Q15. Ultra Petroleum comprises 1.25% of the SPDR S&P Oil & Gas Exploration & Production ETF (XOP).
CLR’s Bakken and SCOOP 1Q15 production surge
Continental Resources’ production in the US unconventional shales increased significantly in 1Q15 over 1Q14. In the Bakken Shale in North Dakota and Montana, Continental Resources’ (CLR) 1Q15 production averaged 135.5 Mboepd, a 39% increase over 1Q14. However, during the latest quarter, the company’s number of operated rigs in the Bakken Shale decreased to 13 from 19 rigs at the end of 2014.
In the South Central Oklahoma Oil Province (or SCOOP), production increased 70% to 49.8 Mboepd in 1Q15 over the same quarter in 2014. In SCOOP, the growth was more pronounced in the Springer oil play, which was recently added to Continental Resources’ Oklahoma asset portfolio.
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