News Releases

WHITECAP RESOURCES INC. CONTINUES OPERATIONAL MOMENTUM AND ACHIEVES RECORD PRODUCTION

CALGARY, ALBERTA – Whitecap Resources Inc. ("Whitecap" or the "Company") (TSX: WCP) is pleased to report its operating and unaudited financial results for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024.

Selected financial and operating information is outlined below and should be read with Whitecap’s unaudited interim consolidated financial statements and related management’s discussion and analysis for the three and six months ended June 30, 2024 which are available at www.sedarplus.ca and on our website at www.wcap.ca.

Financial ($ millions except for share amounts)	Three Months ended Jun. 30		Six Months ended Jun. 30
	2024	2023	2024	2023
Petroleum and natural gas revenues	980.4	797.9	1,848.7	1,681.6
Net income	244.5	175.4	304.3	438.0
Basic ($/share)	0.41	0.29	0.51	0.72
Diluted ($/share)	0.41	0.29	0.51	0.72
Funds flow 1	426.4	415.1	810.4	863.1
Basic ($/share) 1	0.71	0.69	1.35	1.43
Diluted ($/share) 1	0.71	0.68	1.35	1.41
Dividends declared	109.2	87.7	218.3	175.4
Per share	0.18	0.15	0.37	0.29
Expenditures on property, plant and equipment 2	203.8	217.8	597.0	471.4
Free funds flow 1	222.6	197.3	213.4	391.7
Net Debt 1	1,297.0	1,361.2	1,297.0	1,361.2
Operating
Average daily production
Crude oil (bbls/d)	93,663	82,649	91,235	84,452
NGLs (bbls/d)	20,701	15,448	20,052	16,048
Natural gas (Mcf/d)	377,700	294,412	373,200	303,734
Total (boe/d) 3	177,314	147,166	173,487	151,122
Average realized Price 1,4
Crude oil ($/bbl)	102.06	90.59	95.71	91.17
NGLs ($/bbl)	34.88	33.58	34.83	40.76
Natural gas ($/Mcf)	1.30	2.59	1.95	3.08
Petroleum and natural gas revenues ($/boe) 1	60.76	59.58	58.55	61.48
Operating Netback ($/boe) 1
Petroleum and natural gas revenues1	60.76	59.58	58.55	61.48
Tariffs 1	(0.42)	(0.50)	(0.43)	(0.52)
Processing & other income 1	0.71	1.08	0.74	0.96
Marketing revenues 1	3.95	5.06	3.91	4.84
Petroleum and natural gas sales 1	65.00	65.22	62.77	66.76
Realized gain on commodity contracts 1	0.28	0.89	0.32	0.77
Royalties 1	(10.09)	(9.57)	(9.77)	(10.56)
Operating expenses 1	(13.49)	(15.16)	(13.87)	(14.55)
Transportation expenses 1	(2.12)	(2.23)	(2.09)	(2.18)
Marketing expenses 1	(3.91)	(5.08)	(3.88)	(4.83)
Operating netbacks	35.67	34.07	33.48	35.41
Share information (millions)
Common shares outstanding, end of period	599.4	605.8	599.4	605.8
Weighted average basic shares outstanding	598.8	605.2	598.4	605.6
Weighted average diluted shares outstanding	602.1	609.2	601.9	610.1

MESSAGE TO SHAREHOLDERS

Whitecap's operational momentum continued into the second quarter after an active first quarter drilling program and the start-up of our Musreau facility with record quarterly volumes of 177,314 boe/d, consisting of 114,364 bbls/d of oil and NGLs and 377,700 mcf/d of natural gas. Strong production results across our Montney and Duvernay assets as well as our conventional assets in Alberta and Saskatchewan contributed to production being higher than our internal forecast of 170,500 boe/d in the quarter.

Funds flow of $426 million ($0.71 per share) benefitted from the strong operational results and continued crude oil price strength and, after capital expenditures of $204 million, Whitecap generated free funds flow of $223 million in the second quarter. We returned approximately $110 million to shareholders during the quarter through our base dividend and share repurchases under our normal course issuer bid ("NCIB").

Our balance sheet continues to be in excellent shape with low leverage and ample liquidity. Net debt at the end of the second quarter was $1.3 billion (0.6x Debt to EBITDA⁵) on total capacity of $2.9 billion.

We also significantly improved our balance sheet with the partial infrastructure dispositions we press released on July 2, 2024, for gross proceeds of $520 million. The 50% working interest sale of our Musreau 05-09 facility to Topaz Energy Corp. closed on June 24, 2024, and the 50% working interest sale of our 15-07 Kaybob complex to Pembina Gas Infrastructure ("PGI") is expected to close in the third quarter of this year.

We provide the following second quarter and year to date 2024 financial and operating highlights:

·      Production Growth. Strong operational execution resulted in record average production of 177,314 boe/d in the second quarter or 4% production per share growth⁶ compared to the first quarter of this year and 22% production per share growth compared to the second quarter of the prior year.

·      Funds Flow. Second quarter funds flow of $426 million ($0.71 per share) increased 11% per share compared to the first quarter of this year and increased 4% per share compared to the second quarter of the prior year. Our production base is 64% light oil and liquids and with WTI prices averaging over $110/bbl in Canadian dollars, oil and liquids represented 95% of our second quarter petroleum and natural gas revenue.

·      Drilling Program. Second quarter capital expenditures were $204 million and of the 27 wells spud during the second quarter, nine were Montney and Duvernay, and 18 were conventional. We brought 33 (27.4 net) wells on production during the second quarter, including three Duvernay wells at Kaybob and four Montney wells at Musreau during April.

·      Return of Capital. For the six months ended June 30, 2024, we have returned $220 million to shareholders through our monthly dividend of $0.0608 per share and share repurchases under our NCIB. Our NCIB was renewed in the second quarter, providing for up to 59.1 million shares that may be repurchased prior to May 22, 2025.

·      Balance Sheet Strength. Quarter end net debt of $1.3 billion equated to a debt to EBITDA ratio of 0.6 times and an EBITDA to interest expense ratio⁵ of 27.6 times, both well within our debt covenants of not greater than 4.0 times and not less than 3.5 times, respectively.

OPERATIONS UPDATE

Montney & Duvernay Assets

We run a continuous two rig program in the Montney and Duvernay and have grown production by 27% over the past year and a half to approximately 61,000 boe/d from 48,000 boe/d in the fourth quarter of 2022. Our strategic partnership with PGI and the funding of Lator phase 1 as press released on July 2, 2024, is an important milestone for future growth in the Montney and Duvernay to 100,000 boe/d over the next five years.

Our rigorous technical analysis and customized pad designs have enabled us to continually refine our approach to asset development, while at the same time our assets have performed better than initial expectations and provided increased confidence in the future deliverability of these areas. Our first eight Montney wells at Musreau have extended this trend with average IP(90) rates of 1,600 boe/d per well (70% liquids) which is 19% above our expectations.

We are currently completing a four well pad at Musreau, our third pad overall and second targeting both the D2 and D3 Montney intervals. The thickness of pay and high liquids content at Musreau is favorable to multi-bench development and we expect this pad to be on production later in the third quarter.

We recently brought 3 (3.0 net) Duvernay wells on production at Kaybob and we will bring an additional 5 (5.0 net) Duvernay wells and 10 (10.0 net) Montney wells on production in the second half of the year.

Conventional Assets

Strong results from our conventional drilling program continued into the second quarter with results exceeding expectations across our asset base. Our second half drilling program is now underway, with six currently active rigs and plans to drill a total of 76 (68.9 net) wells on our conventional assets before year end.

Recent results from our Frobisher drilling program in Southeast Saskatchewan highlight the attractiveness of these light oil weighted assets. Production from our first quarter program is above our expectations and strong crude oil prices are improving the already robust economics, accelerating our projected capital payout⁷ on these recent wells to less than six months. Over a three year period, these wells are projected to pay out our capital investment three times. We plan to drill 26 (23.8 net) Frobisher wells in the second half of the year.

Our Central Alberta Glauconite assets have seen steady improvement since first entering the play in 2021. We have brought 12 (11.7 net) Glauconite wells on production since the start of the year, with results continuing to exceed our expectations. The economics are further enhanced by high liquids rates as our recent 6 (5.9 net) wells have exceeded forecasted liquids rates by 40% in the first 90 days on production. We plan to drill 6 (6.0 net) Glauconite wells in the second half of the year.

The focus of our Viking program in West Saskatchewan is to improve long term free cash flow generation through continued operational efficiency enhancements and cost savings. On our recently consolidated Viking assets at Elrose, we recently spud our first 1.5-mile extended reach horizonal well, which will be a key initiative for potential inventory enhancement in the area. Initial well results on our 2024 Elrose program are in line with our expectations and higher than historical results, while we have also initiated work to reduce operating costs in the area as we move forward. In aggregate, we plan to drill 32 (32.0 net) Viking wells in the second half of the year on existing and recently acquired lands.

OUTLOOK

Operational and financial performance through the first half of the year has been exceptional and we will look to continue the momentum through the second half of 2024 and into 2025. Results across our Montney and Duvernay assets are increasing the confidence in the future deliverability of these assets and the economics of the 2,462 locations⁸ in inventory, while our focus on profitability and sustainability within our conventional asset base will further enhance the corporate free cash flow capabilities from the 3,980 locations in inventory.

Our 2024 production and capital spending guidance of 167,000 – 172,000 boe/d (64% liquids) and $0.9 - $1.1 billion, respectively, is being maintained.

Our balance sheet is in excellent shape with pro forma net debt below $900 million. We plan to allocate $200 million of the partial infrastructure disposition proceeds to share repurchases under our NCIB in the second half of 2024, of which $25 million has been executed to date in July, with forecast net debt of below $1 billion at year end⁹.

On behalf of our employees, management team and Board of Directors, we would like to thank our shareholders for their continued support.

NOTES
¹    Funds flow, funds flow basic ($/share), funds flow diluted ($/share) and net debt are capital management measures. Average realized price and per boe disclosure figures are supplementary financial measures. Operating netback and free funds flow are non-GAAP financial measures. Operating netbacks ($/boe) is a non-GAAP ratio. Refer to the Specified Financial Measures section in this press release for additional disclosure and assumptions.
²   Also referred to herein as "capital expenditures", "capital investment" and "capital budget".
³   Disclosure of production on a per boe basis in this press release consists of the constituent product types and their respective quantities disclosed herein. Refer to Barrel of Oil Equivalency and Production, Initial Production Rates and Product Type Information in this press release for additional disclosure.
⁴   Prior to the impact of risk management activities and tariffs.
⁵   Debt to EBITDA ratio and EBITDA to interest expense ratio are specified financial measures that are calculated in accordance with the financial covenants in our credit agreement.
⁶   Production per share is the Company's total crude oil, NGL and natural gas production volumes for the applicable period divided by the weighted average number of diluted shares outstanding for the applicable period. Production per share growth is determined in comparison to the applicable comparative period.
⁷   Also referred to herein as "half-cycle payout". Refer to Oil and Gas Metrics in this press release for additional disclosure
⁸   Disclosure of drilling locations in this press release consists of proved, probable, and unbooked locations and their respective quantities on a gross and net basis as disclosed herein. Refer to Drilling Locations in this press release for additional disclosure.
⁹   Based on the following strip commodity pricing and exchange rate assumptions for the remainder of 2024: US$77/bbl WTI, $1.50/GJ AECO, USD/CAD of $1.37.

CONFERENCE CALL AND WEBCAST

Whitecap has scheduled a conference call and webcast to begin promptly at 9:00 am MT (11:00 am ET) on Thursday, July 25, 2024.

The conference call dial-in number is: 1-888-390-0605 or (587) 880-2175 or (416) 764-8609

A live webcast of the conference call will be accessible on Whitecap’s website at www.wcap.ca by selecting "Investors", then "Presentations & Events". Shortly after the live webcast, an archived version will be available for approximately 14 days.

For further information:

Grant Fagerheim, President & CEO
or
Thanh Kang, Senior Vice President & CFO

Whitecap Resources Inc.
3800, 525 – 8^th Avenue SW
Calgary, AB T2P 1G1
(403) 266-0767
www.wcap.ca
InvestorRelations@wcap.ca

Refer to full press release for forward-looking statements and advisories.​​​​​