Midnight O&G, Viracocha Energy & Hadrian Energy - 3 private ones to watch for.
Daily Oil Bulletin Article September, 2000
NEW MARKET FOR JUNIORS?
In a year that has seen record low levels of treasury financings for the oil and gas industry, September’s financing total is up significantly with large new issues completed by Alberta Energy Company Ltd. (US$500 million) and ARC Energy Trust ($75.7 million). However, small companies have not received the same level of financing and it may be that funds will only be available for juniors with high profile managements.
On the surface, the market fundamentals for the oil and gas sector look extremely positive. High commodity prices are resulting in strong cash flows for producers. Merger and acquisition activity during the first half of 2000 totaled $12.5 billion, breaking 1998’s previous record. An increase of over 31% in the TSE Oil & Gas Producers Index between the beginning of 2000 and the end of August suggests that the equity markets are re-evaluating their opinion of the oil and gas sector.
Yet not all companies are benefiting from the industry’s rosy outlook, as investors are proving to be very selective and junior producers seem to be ignored. Treasury financings under $10 million in size accounted for only 17% of the total value of oil and gas company financings during the first eights months of 2000.
Even the flow-through market, which traditionally has been the main source of new equity for small companies, is significantly depressed this year. Between June and August of 2000 flow-through financings totaled $17.2 million, down 86% from the same time last year, when $120.6 million was raised.
However, some recent new issues illustrate that funds are available to certain junior exploration and production companies. Midnight Oil & Gas Ltd. has recently raised $14.7 million through the private placement of common shares. In August, Viracocha Energy Inc. issued 4 million special warrants for gross proceeds of $8 million on a private placement basis. Hadrian Energy Corp. also closed a private placement this month for net proceeds of $3.7 million.
An interesting feature of these companies is that all three have staff who were former executives of larger exploration and production firms, and who have developed a positive reputation with investors. For example, the former management of Ulster Petroleums Ltd., which was taken over by Anderson Exploration Ltd. in May, directs Midnight. Bellator Exploration Inc.’s previous management is now at the helm of Viracocha, and Hadrian’s top management includes former Gardiner Oil and Gas Limited and Paloma Petroleum Ltd. executives.
What sets these executives apart from their counterparts is that they have a record of success in managing and growing their previous companies, past results that continue to attract investors. In addition, when their former employers were sold, the shareholders received a good price.
Ulster’s shareholders received a premium of 66.88%. Bellator was taken over by Baytex Energy Ltd. in a deal that gave Bellator shareholders a 60.59% premium. This last impression that shareholders had of the companies leaves a very good tone for the future.
Although past results are no guarantee of future success, these new start-up companies tend to follow an approach that has worked well for their predecessors: grow carefully from a small base.
In 1997 Bonavista Petroleum Ltd. established a new management team led by President and Chief Executive Officer Keith MacPhail, a former executive with Rio Alto Exploration Ltd. At that time, Bonavista had an average daily production rate of 1,834 BOE and the company’s shares closed the year at $4.35 per share. Last week Bonavista shares were trading at $29.10, and the company reported a production rate of 13,400 BOE per day at the end of this year’s second quarter.
A more recent example involves the former officers of Poco Petroleums Ltd., who were appointed as the new management team of Meota Resources Corp. and subscribed to a $9.5 million financing in January of this year. With the announcement of new management, the share price jumped from $0.90 per share to $2.30. In June, Meota went on to acquire Merit Energy Ltd.’s assets in a deal valued at $56.5 million, increasing the company’s average production by 49%.
As is usual when the stock market re-awakens its interest in a sector, the larger companies and the better known management groups get attention first. For juniors as a whole, a longer period of time at stable oil and gas prices is necessary, along with reserve and production success stories, in order for a broader demand for small company financings to be seen. |
