ERF has been one of the best performing E&P stocks YTD (+14.3% vs E&Ps -2.64%) and it was our pleasure to welcome Ian Dundas, President & CEO of Enerplus Corp into our Houston office as we gained valuable insight to the drivers of this outperformance. Repositioning the business began in earnest late 2014 as the company was staring down a noncompetitive business structure. Recognizing the need for margin expansion, ERF successfully disposed of low margin, high cost Canadian assets, facilitating a 20% decrease in cash costs over three years, while further strengthening the balance sheet (0.6x vs. US peers at 2.4x) through a tough commodity environment. Though often labeled a “Canadian E&P”, 85% of 2018 capex is directed south of the border, with 75% going to North Dakota as they intend to grow liquids production by 20% in 2018. A quality land position and early adoption of high intensity completions (~1,000lb/ft) has earned them a reputation as a leading edge operator in the Williston Basin. Ian describes Enerplus’ business model as being one focused on full-cycle returns and improving capital efficiencies, as a result, we see little chance ERF puts their excess CF to work to chase top line growth. At US$50-55 WTI ERF’s capital program is fully funded and, if current strip holds, the company would look to increase share purchases through their pre-existing NCIB or put excess cash towards expanding inventory with projects that can compete on full cycle returns. We look forward to getting to know this unique North America story better, as the margin expansion efforts and shareholder friendly initiatives continue to play out.
Nathan Fisher, Maynard Holt, Drew Mair, Ian Dundas, Derek Wheatley