WHITECAP RESOURCES INC. REPORTS STRONG SECOND QUARTER RESULTS DRIVEN BY OPERATIONAL AND FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE
CALGARY, AB, July 23, 2025 /CNW/ - 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, 2025.
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, 2025 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
2025
2024
2025
2024
Petroleum and natural gas revenues
1,365.3
980.4
2,307.5
1,848.7
Net income
310.6
244.5
473.2
304.3
Basic ($/share)
0.33
0.41
0.62
0.51
Diluted ($/share)
0.33
0.41
0.61
0.51
Funds flow 1
712.8
426.4
1,159.1
810.4
Basic ($/share) 1
0.76
0.71
1.51
1.35
Diluted ($/share) 1
0.75
0.71
1.50
1.35
Dividends declared
185.4
109.2
292.6
218.3
Per share
0.18
0.18
0.36
0.36
Expenditures on property, plant and equipment 2
408.8
203.8
806.9
597.0
Free funds flow 1
304.0
222.6
352.2
213.4
Net debt 1
3,290.1
1,297.0
3,290.1
1,297.0
Operating
Average daily production
Crude oil (bbls/d)
152,090
93,663
123,089
91,235
NGLs (bbls/d)
35,079
20,701
28,659
20,052
Natural gas (Mcf/d)
633,511
377,700
506,817
373,200
Total (boe/d) 3
292,754
177,314
236,218
173,487
Average realized price 1,4
Crude oil ($/bbl)
83.13
102.06
86.87
95.71
NGLs ($/bbl)
33.86
34.88
35.49
34.83
Natural gas ($/Mcf)
1.85
1.30
2.05
1.95
Petroleum and natural gas revenues ($/boe) 1
51.25
60.76
53.97
58.55
Operating netback ($/boe) 1
Petroleum and natural gas revenues1
51.25
60.76
53.97
58.55
Tariffs 1
(0.44)
(0.42)
(0.38)
(0.43)
Processing & other income 1
0.46
0.71
0.59
0.74
Marketing revenues 1
3.04
3.95
3.36
3.91
Petroleum and natural gas sales 1
54.31
65.00
57.54
62.77
Realized gain on commodity contracts 1
1.62
0.28
1.33
0.32
Royalties 1
(6.97)
(10.09)
(8.04)
(9.77)
Operating expenses 1
(13.58)
(13.49)
(13.58)
(13.87)
Transportation expenses 1
(2.80)
(2.12)
(2.63)
(2.09)
Marketing expenses 1
(3.04)
(3.91)
(3.32)
(3.88)
Operating netbacks
29.54
35.67
31.30
33.48
Share information (millions)
Common shares outstanding, end of period
1,231.6
599.4
1,231.6
599.4
Weighted average basic shares outstanding
941.4
598.8
765.4
598.4
Weighted average diluted shares outstanding
946.4
602.1
770.2
601.9
MESSAGE TO SHAREHOLDERS
Whitecap continued its strong operational momentum in the second quarter of 2025 with production averaging 292,754 boe/d, including 187,169 bbls/d of oil, condensate and NGLs and 633,511 mcf/d of natural gas. Exceptional asset level outperformance continued across our unconventional and conventional portfolios, leading to production exceeding our internal expectations.
During the quarter, we successfully closed the strategic combination with Veren Inc. ("Veren") on May 12, 2025, creating Canada's seventh largest oil and natural gas producer and the fifth largest natural gas producer. Whitecap has now become the largest Alberta Montney and Duvernay landholder and a prominent light oil producer in Saskatchewan with a deep portfolio of premium drilling inventory across all commodities.
Following the strategic combination with Veren, our balance sheet remains in excellent shape with low leverage and ample liquidity. Our credit rating was upgraded to BBB, with a stable trend, by DBRS, Inc. in the second quarter, reflecting our improved credit profile. During the quarter, we also issued investment grade 3-year senior unsecured notes for gross proceeds of $300 million at an attractive fixed coupon of 3.761% per annum.
We also further improved our balance sheet through the disposition of certain non-strategic assets which closed in the second quarter for aggregate consideration of $270 million, prior to closing adjustments. This includes the previously announced sale of medium oil production in southwest Saskatchewan and an 8.333% working interest in a natural gas facility in the Kaybob region.
We are pleased to provide the following second quarter and year to date 2025 financial and operating highlights:
Production Outperformance. Second quarter production of 292,754 boe/d represents an increase of 5% per share5 compared to the second quarter of 2024 and a 2% per share increase over the first quarter of 2025. Asset level outperformance, along with the timing of new production additions and downtime optimization, contributed to production exceeding our internal expectations.
Funds Flow. Second quarter funds flow of $713 million ($0.75 per share) increased 6% per share compared to the second quarter of 2024. After capital investments of $409 million, Whitecap generated free funds flow of $304 million in the quarter.
Balance Sheet Strength. Quarter end net debt of $3.3 billion equates to a net debt to annualized funds flow ratio1 of 1.0 times. Our unutilized debt capacity of $1.6 billion provides us with significant financial flexibility to navigate through periods of market volatility.
Return of Capital. For the six months ended June 30, 2025, we returned $298 million to shareholders through our monthly dividend of $0.0608 per share and share repurchases under our normal course issuer bid ("NCIB"). Our NCIB was renewed in the second quarter, allowing for the repurchase up to 122.1 million shares, or 10% of our public float, prior to May 22, 2026.
OPERATIONS UPDATE
Unconventional
In the Kaybob area, our Duvernay production was higher than forecasted as strong operational execution advanced new pad production into the second quarter along with downtime optimization that allowed us to mitigate the impact of turnaround activity at our 15-07 gas processing facility. Our third pad utilizing a wine rack style design was also recently brought on production through permanent facilities with encouraging initial results. Positive production results from our first three wine rack style pads, combined with strong observed reservoir performance, are providing us the confidence to proceed with this development approach on applicable lands across our Kaybob asset. This design is expected to enhance our production performance and financial returns in the play by improving per well recoveries and associated well economics in our high quality Duvernay inventory.
At Gold Creek and Karr, 12 Montney wells (12.0 net) were brought on production across two pads in the first half of 2025. Production results are in line with our internal expectations and provide us with incremental technical data to assess the impact of well design and development changes on well economics and the long-term potential of the assets. Following optimization and debottlenecking efforts in the first half of 2025, there has been improved infrastructure reliability and utilization across both Gold Creek and Karr.
Our prior results have proven the deliverability of our Musreau Montney asset and have provided us with confidence to drill larger-scale multi-well pads to further improve the capital efficiency of the area. We are currently drilling a 6.0 well (6.0 net) pad which is forecasted to be on production in early 2026 as plant capacity becomes available. We also continue to investigate debottlenecking options which would increase gas throughput at the 05-09 battery.
At Kakwa, we successfully brought our first triple bench Montney pad on production during the quarter with strong initial results. The 3-well (1.5 net) pad in northwest Kakwa achieved an IP903 rate of 1,212 boe/d (65% liquids) which is 14% above our expectations. The pad configuration is performing as expected based on our technical observations at this early stage, providing an important validation point for this triple bench design.
We continue to see encouraging results from our two (2.0 net) delineation Montney wells drilled on the eastern and southern portions of our Lator acreage in 2024, with average performance exceeding our internal expectations by approximately 20%. We plan to begin drilling a 3-well (3.0 net) pad in the area late in the third quarter, further advancing our technical delineation program and understanding of the Lator asset, with relevant technical read-through to our adjacent Resthaven acreage.
Phase 1 of our planned 04-13 Lator facility is progressing on schedule, with all regulatory permits required to commence construction received. We have initiated earthworks on the facility site and procured all necessary equipment with expected delivery in the first quarter of 2026. The 35,000, 40,000 boe/d facility is scheduled to be completed in late 2026/early 2027 while Phase 2 is expected to increase production up to 80,000, 85,000 boe/d in the 2029/2030 timeframe.
Conventional
Open hole multi-lateral ("OHML") development continues to progress at Viewfield in southeast Saskatchewan. Our 5 (4.5 net) most recent Bakken wells have exceeded our internal expectations by 27%. We recently brought our first 2.5 mile Bakken well, which was the longest OHML drilled in the play to date, on production with encouraging initial results. We plan to drill 7 OHML wells (4.9 net) in the Bakken in the second half of 2025, including a 3.0 mile pilot well which we recently commenced drilling.
We are also advancing our OHML program within the Frobisher in eastern Saskatchewan following strong results in 2024. Our active first quarter program included 13 (12.2 net) wells, and our focus on drilling additional legs and longer laterals has led to capital efficiency improvements of approximately 25% as compared to the prior year. Through the balance of 2025, we plan to drill an additional 21 (20.0 net) OHML wells in the Frobisher, building on our strong momentum to date. We continue to evaluate further opportunities to enhance well economics and inventory in the play, including increasing the number of legs per well to maximize royalty incentives in addition to facility debottlenecking and expansion projects. We also continue to evaluate the applicability of OHML technology in other areas across our conventional portfolio, which has the potential to enhance economics and add drilling inventory.
The Cardium wells brought on production at Wapiti during the first quarter continue to exceed our expectations, further validating the well design enhancements on returns in the play. We now have 6 wells (5.4 net) which have been on production for approximately 180 days, achieving an average IP1803 rate of 558 boe/d (79% liquids). These wells, which included an optimized completions design based on workflows utilized in our unconventional assets, have exceeded our type curve expectations by 59% and provide us with the confidence to deploy this approach on future wells in the area.
Recent facility egress optimizations within our Glauconite play allowed us to mitigate the production impact of planned downtime during the quarter, driving outperformance relative to internal expectations. Our Glauconite assets have shown significant improvement in profitability since they were first acquired in 2021 through the combination of monobore drilling, production results continuing to exceed expectations and increased facility access and utilization.
