While the rest of the Western Canadian oilpatch is battening down the hatches and bailing furiously during the current low oil-price squall, Crescent Point Energy is sailing along — albeit at slightly reduced speed — seemingly impervious to the rough seas that have swamped some competitors in the last two years. That certainly was the message Crescent Point president and CEO Scott Saxberg was conveying to reporters following a meeting with Premier Brad Wall at the Legislative Building Thursday.
While the rest of the Western Canadian oilpatch is battening down the hatches and bailing furiously during the current low oil-price squall, Crescent Point Energy is sailing along — albeit at slightly reduced speed — seemingly impervious to the rough seas that have swamped some competitors in the last two years.
That certainly was the message Crescent Point president and CEO Scott Saxberg was conveying to reporters following a meeting with Premier Brad Wall at the Legislative Building Thursday.
As the largest oil producer in Saskatchewan, with 25 per cent of total oil production, and the largest gas producer, with 23 per cent of total gas production, Crescent Point has every reason to be confident, even cocky, in the current low price environment.
In November 2014, Crescent Point passed Husky to become the largest oil producer in Saskatchewan. The Calgary-based company was also the most active oil well driller in the province in 2015, with 623 new wells or 34 per cent of total oil wells drilled in the province, primarily in the Estevan area.
After his meeting with Wall, Saxberg spoke briefly with reporters. Here are some excerpts from that interview.
Q: What was the nature of your discussions with Premier Wall today?
Q: How many wells would you project Crescent Point to drill in the province in 2016?
A: "Roughly the same (as last year). We're the largest driller in Canada. Over the last three to four years, we've drilled the most wells (in the country), mostly in Saskatchewan. Again, that's the unique nature of the high profitability and value of these assets in Saskatchewan. They're large projects. We have upwards of $20 billion worth of projects still to do in the province. We've spent, just in the last five years, close to $7 billion on capital projects, never mind our day-today operating costs (which) are probably $500 million to $600 million per year on top of that. The assets and properties (we have) in Saskatchewan — in Weyburn, in Shaunavon — continue to outperform. (They're) pretty exciting plays in all of North America.
Q: How can Crescent Point continue to drill hundreds of wells and keep pumping about one-quarter of the province's oil and gas production with oil prices at US$50 per barrel WTI, which is substantially higher than the Canadian Light crude price at $47 per barrel CDN or Western Canadian Select at $37 per barrel CDN?
Q: Your initial capital budget for 2016 for Saskatchewan was around $1 billion. What's your projected capital budget for the province at the halfway point?
Q: Premier Wall has been a strong advocate of pipeline projects, like Keystone XL and Energy East? How important are those projects to your company and your industry?