Black Stone Minerals, L.P. Reports Third Quarter Results

November 2, 2020  streetinsider.com

Excerpts.  Link to full article at the bottom.

Highlights

• Total mineral and royalty production for the third quarter of 2020 equaled 31.1 MBoe/d, a decrease of 8.6% over the prior quarter; total production, including working interest volumes, was 37.9 MBoe/d for the quarter.
• Net income and Adjusted EBITDA for the quarter totaled $23.7 million and $65.5 million, respectively.
• Distributable cash flow was $58.8 million for the third quarter, resulting in distribution coverage for all units of 1.9x based on the announced cash distribution of $0.15 per unit.
• Completed the previously-announced asset sales in July 2020 for total cash proceeds of $150 million; recognized a gain of $24.0 million associated with the sales.
• Total debt at the end of the third quarter was $147 million; total debt to trailing twelve-month Adjusted EBITDA was 0.5x at quarter-end. As of October 30, 2020, total debt had been reduced to $124 million.
• Announced distribution of $0.15 per common unit with respect to the third quarter of 2020.

Management Commentary

Thomas L. Carter, Jr., Black Stone Minerals’ Chief Executive Officer and Chairman commented, “We continued to focus on our core principles of balance sheet strength and active property management during the third quarter. In light of the challenging environment, we substantially reduced our debt levels during the quarter with proceeds from the recent asset sales and retained free cash flow. We are also taking advantage of the relative strength in natural gas prices to aggressively market our extensive acreage positions across the Haynesville Shale and Austin Chalk formations."

Activity Update

Rig Activity

As of September 30, 2020, Black Stone had 29 rigs operating across its acreage position. This is consistent with rig activity on the Company's acreage as of June 30, 2020 and is below the 97 rigs operating on the Company's acreage as of September 30, 2019.

Shelby Trough Update

On May 5, 2020, Black Stone entered into a development agreement with affiliates of Aethon Energy (“Aethon”) with respect to the Company’s undeveloped Shelby Trough Haynesville and Bossier shale acreage in Angelina County, Texas. The agreement provides for minimum well commitments by Aethon in exchange for reduced royalty rates and exclusive access to Black Stone’s mineral and leasehold acreage in the contract area. The agreement calls for a minimum of four wells to be drilled in the initial program year, which begins in the third quarter of 2020, increasing to a minimum of 15 wells per year beginning with the third program year. Aethon plans to drill the first wells under the development agreement in the fourth quarter of 2020.

Black Stone continues to evaluate alternatives to encourage further development activity in the Shelby Trough in San Augustine county through a combination of working with XTO and utilizing the Company’s available acreage position and contractual rights to bring in a second operating partner.

Link to full article:

https://www.streetinsider.com/Business+Wire/Black+Stone+Minerals%2C...