Feb. 17, 2021
Royal Dutch Shell plc, through its affiliate Shell Canada Energy (“Shell”), has reached an agreement with publicly listed Canadian energy company Crescent Point Energy Corp. (“Crescent Point”) to sell its Duvernay shale light oil position in Alberta, Canada for a total consideration of US$707 million (C$900 million). The transaction has an effective date of January 1, 2021.
The consideration is comprised of US$550 million in cash and 50 million shares (valued at US$157 million) in Crescent Point Energy common stock (TSX:CPG). Subject to regulatory approvals, the transaction is expected to close in April 2021.
“Divesting these assets underpins Shell’s effort to focus the Upstream portfolio to deliver cash,” said Wael Sawan, Upstream Director at Shell. “While we believe these assets hold value, the divestment allows us to focus on our core Upstream positions like the Permian Basin, with integrated value chains, thereby building a resilient, lower-risk and less complex portfolio.”
The transaction includes the transfer of approximately 450,000 net acres in the Fox Creek (Kaybob) and Rocky Mountain House (Willesden Green) areas, along with related infrastructure, currently producing around 30,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boe/d) from more than 270 wells. Crescent Point Energy will retain the field employees and several technical and commercial roles that support the assets.
Shell has been operating in Canada for more than 100 years and remains committed to the country’s energy future. Shell’s footprint in Canada includes a 40% interest in LNG Canada; shale gas positions in British Columbia (Groundbirch) and shale gas and liquids positions in Alberta (Gold Creek); the Scotford Complex in Alberta, identified as one of Shell’s six high-value energy and chemicals parks; investments in cleaner energy including the first waste-to-low-carbon-fuels plant in Québec; and a growing Retail business with around 1,400 Shell-branded sites across Canada, among others.
Notes to Editors
- Shell has approximately 500 producing wells in the Groundbirch acreage in Northeast British Columbia, of which roughly 75% of those wells have joint venture ownership, and the Gold Creek asset in the wet Montney play where Shell has about 40 wells on-stream, averaging approximately 4,000 boe/d.
- Shell’s global Upstream strategy aims for a more focused, competitive and resilient portfolio to deliver cash. It includes nine core positions globally and lean Upstream positions that will either mature into core positions, be repurposed or be monetized through divestment.
- In Shales, Shell has built resilient, low break-even positions by focusing on high-margin tight oil positions and low-cost gas assets. In the Permian Shell has a very attractive position. Shell’s acreage lies in areas with the thickest formations and provides more than 50% of total Shales production.
Enquiries:
Shell Canada Media Relations: media-desk@shell.com
Cautionary Note
The companies in which Royal Dutch Shell plc directly and indirectly owns investments are separate legal entities. In this announcement “Shell”, “Shell Group” and “Royal Dutch Shell” are sometimes used for convenience where references are made to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general. Likewise, the words “we”, “us” and “our” are also used to refer to Royal Dutch Shell plc and its subsidiaries in general or to those who work for them. These terms are also used where no useful purpose is served by identifying the particular entity or entities. ‘‘Subsidiaries’’, “Shell subsidiaries” and “Shell companies” as used in this announcement refer to entities over which Royal Dutch Shell plc either directly or indirectly has control. Entities and unincorporated arrangements over which Shell has joint control are generally referred to as “joint ventures” and “joint operations”, respectively. Entities over which Shell has significant influence but neither control nor joint control are referred to as “associates”. The term “Shell interest” is used for convenience to indicate the direct and/or indirect ownership interest held by Shell in an entity or unincorporated joint arrangement, after exclusion of all third-party interest. This announcement contains the following forward-looking Non-GAAP measures: Adjusted Earnings, Cash capital expenditure, Underlying operating expenses, and Divestment proceeds. We are unable to provide a reconciliation of the above forward-looking Non-GAAP measures to the most comparable GAAP financial measures because certain information needed to reconcile the above Non-GAAP measure to the most comparable GAAP financial measure is dependent on future events some which are outside the control of the company, such as oil and gas prices, interest rates and exchange rates. Moreover, estimating such GAAP measures consistent with the company accounting policies and the required precision necessary to provide a meaningful reconciliation is extremely difficult and could not be accomplished without unreasonable effort. Non-GAAP measures in respect of future periods which cannot be reconciled to the most comparable GAAP financial measure are calculated in a manner which is consistent with the accounting policies applied in Royal Dutch Shell plc’s financial statements.
This announcement contains forward-looking statements (within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) concerning the financial condition, results of operations and businesses of Royal Dutch Shell. All statements other than statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are statements of future expectations that are based on management’s current expectations and assumptions and involve known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results, performance or events to differ materially from those expressed or implied in these statements. Forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements concerning the potential exposure of Royal Dutch Shell to market risks and statements expressing management’s expectations, beliefs, estimates, forecasts, projections and assumptions. These forward-looking statements are identified by their use of terms and phrases such as “aim”, “ambition”, ‘‘anticipate’’, ‘‘believe’’, ‘‘could’’, ‘‘estimate’’, ‘‘expect’’, ‘‘goals’’, ‘‘intend’’, ‘‘may’’, ‘‘objectives’’, ‘‘outlook’’, ‘‘plan’’, ‘‘probably’’, ‘‘project’’, ‘‘risks’’, “schedule”, ‘‘seek’’, ‘‘should’’, ‘‘target’’, ‘‘will’’ and similar terms and phrases. There are a number of factors that could affect the future operations of Royal Dutch Shell and could cause those results to differ materially from those expressed in the forward-looking statements included in this announcement, including (without limitation): (a) price fluctuations in crude oil and natural gas; (b) changes in demand for Shell’s products; (c) currency fluctuations; (d) drilling and production results; (e) reserves estimates; (f) loss of market share and industry competition; (g) environmental and physical risks; (h) risks associated with the identification of suitable potential acquisition properties and targets, and successful negotiation and completion of such transactions; (i) the risk of doing business in developing countries and countries subject to international sanctions; (j) legislative, fiscal and regulatory developments including regulatory measures addressing climate change; (k) economic and financial market conditions in various countries and regions; (l) political risks, including the risks of expropriation and renegotiation of the terms of contracts with governmental entities, delays or advancements in the approval of projects and delays in the reimbursement for shared costs; (m) risks associated with the impact of pandemics, such as the COVID-19 (coronavirus) outbreak; and (n) changes in trading conditions. No assurance is provided that future dividend payments will match or exceed previous dividend payments. All forward-looking statements contained in this announcement are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements contained or referred to in this section. Readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Additional risk factors that may affect future results are contained in Royal Dutch Shell’s Form 20-F for the year ended December 31, 2019 (available at www.shell.com/investor and www.sec.gov). These risk factors also expressly qualify all forward-looking statements contained in this announcement and should be considered by the reader. Each forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date of this announcement, February 17, 2021. Neither Royal Dutch Shell plc nor any of its subsidiaries undertake any obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement as a result of new information, future events or other information. In light of these risks, results could differ materially from those stated, implied or inferred from the forward-looking statements contained in this announcement.
We may have used certain terms, such as resources, in this announcement that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) strictly prohibits us from including in our filings with the SEC. Investors are urged to consider closely the disclosure in our Form 20-F, File No 1-32575, available on the SEC website www.sec.gov....
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