NuVista Energy Ltd. (NVA) Earnings Call Transcript & Summary

All right. It's Friday afternoon. It's 3:00. It's a lovely day out there. Let's get through some business, and we'll carry on the rest of our day. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Pentti Karkkainen, Chair of the Board of NuVista Energy. And it's my pleasure to welcome you to NuVista's 2025 Annual Meeting of Shareholders. This year's meeting will be held in a hybrid format to allow shareholders -- all shareholders to attend and participate at the meeting in person or through live audio webcast. We hope that by hosting this meeting in a hybrid format, the majority of our shareholders will be able to attend and participate. The Lumi platform allows registered shareholders or duly appointed proxy holders to vote and to submit questions to the moderator. If you have a question, simply click on the messaging icon and type your question in the box at the bottom of the messaging screen then click the send button. Questions should be of interest to all shareholders and be relevant to the business of the meeting. When asking a question, please include your name and whether you are a shareholder or a registered proxy holder. I encourage you to submit your questions early. They will be put in the queue and addressed at the appropriate time during the meeting. For those shareholders attending in person, there will be a question-and-answer period following the presentation portion of this meeting. We look forward to getting your feedback and answering your questions, and thank you for participating at today's meeting and your support of NuVista. With me today are Mike Lawford, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Ivan Condic, Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer. Following the formal portion of our meeting, Mike will make some brief remarks. I have asked Ivan to act as Secretary of the meeting and representatives of Odyssey Trust Company to act as scrutineers. For meeting efficiency, I have asked certain shareholders to move and second the motions proposed at the meeting. This is not intended to limit discussion or to suggest that other shareholders and proxy holders are not able to move or second motions. Before we begin the meeting, I would like to acknowledge the indigenous peoples of all the lands that we are on today. I would like to recognize the importance of the lands that each of us calls home. We do this to reaffirm our commitment and responsibility to improving relationships with indigenous peoples across Canada and to deepening our understanding of their histories, cultures and their contributions. From coast to coast to coast, we acknowledge the ancestral and unceded territory of all the indigenous peoples who have cared for and continue to care for this land. I would also like to acknowledge the Board and leadership changes that took place over the last year. Two co-founders of NuVista have retired in the past 12 months. First, Mr. Keith MacPhail retired in August of 2024, and Mr. Ronald Poelzer is retiring from the Board effective today. We extend our deepest gratitude to Keith and Ron for their invaluable vision, leadership and countless contributions to NuVista since its inception in 2003. As distinguished leaders and advocates for the oil and gas sector, their impact on our industry and many individuals will be long-lasting. We wish Keith and Ron, along with their families, all the best as they embark on this next chapter. Frankly, I would like Mr. Poelzer to stand up and be recognized. Also, effective January of this year, Mike Lawford was promoted to President and CEO of NuVista following the retirement of Mr. Jonathan Wright in December. Leadership transition has been a key Board priority over the past several years, requiring significant focus and effort from both the Board and senior leadership to ensure a smooth and successful transition. On behalf of our shareholders, I'd like to personally thank both Jonathan and Mike for their commitment to this process. Mike has been a member of NuVista's leadership team since 2012 and has played a key role in NuVista's success. In addition to his duties as our President and CEO, Mike has joined our Board as a Director. And the Board looks forward to working with Mike and his executive team as NuVista continues to grow shareholder value. Since joining NuVista in 2011, Jonathan has provided exceptional leadership and guidance, successfully steering us through an ever-evolving industry landscape. Jonathan played a pivotal role in transforming NuVista into the Montney player we are today, shaping our strategy and positioning us for continued growth and success. While Jonathan has passed the role of CEO to Mike, we are fortunate that he has agreed to continue serving NuVista as a member of the Board. And I think on that note, I'd like Jonathan to stand and be recognized. On behalf of the Board, I would like to express our sincere thanks to NuVista management team, our employees and our contractors for their extraordinary efforts and performance in 2024. 2024, NuVista was able to achieve record-setting reserves and production. The 2024 operational and financial results underscore the repeatable, predictable and profitable nature of our assets and our team's ability to execute our capital plans while maintaining financial strength and delivering on return of shareholders -- capital to shareholders. Importantly, in 2024, we successfully met or exceeded all of our safety targets, achieving some of the lowest levels of reportable incidents in our company's history. This achievement follows challenging years in which an increase in new contract workers has heightened safety concerns and underscores our unwavering commitment to the safety of our employees, contractors and service providers. I would also like to recognize and thank my colleagues on the Board for your stewardship and sound counsel and helping guide NuVista through what has become an increasingly complex industry environment. And finally, on behalf of the NuVista Board and management, I would also like to thank our shareholders for your continued support and confidence in NuVista. And with that, we will now move on to the formal part of the proceedings. In accordance with our bylaws, I will chair today's meeting, and I now call the meeting to order. I have received confirmation from Odyssey Trust Company as to the mailing of the meeting materials. I direct that this confirmation, together with copies of the documents mailed to the shareholders, be kept by the secretary with the minutes of this meeting. Business may be transacted at this meeting if two or more persons are present, holding or representing by proxy not less than 25% of the shares entitled to vote at the meeting. The scrutineers' report has now been received, and it shows that there is a quorum of shareholders present at the meeting. I therefore declare that the meeting is regularly called and properly constituted for the transaction of business. We will now conduct each vote by way of in-person ballot or by way of a vote cast on the Lumi platform and those submitted by proxy. I understand that the scrutineers have tabulated all the votes received prior to voting cutoff. Thank you to all our shareholders who have voted in advance. If you have previously voted, you do not need to vote again. By voting again, you will revoke any previous vote made prior to voting cutoff. We will now open the online voting for all of the resolutions. [Voting]

If you are attending virtually, you should see voting choices displayed on screen. If you are attending the meeting in person, you should have completed your ballot when you entered the meeting. If you have not yet submitted your ballot, please provide it to the scrutineers now. Particulars of the votes cast on all matters may be obtained from the Secretary after the meeting. I direct that the scrutineers' report on all matters be annexed to the meeting -- to the minutes of this meeting as a schedule. We will now commence with the business of the meeting. The agenda is as set forth in the notice of meeting being the presentation of financial statements, fixing the number of directors to be elected, the election of directors, the appointment of auditors and the advisory vote on NuVista's approach to executive compensation. Let's begin with the first item. The consolidated financial statements of NuVista for the year ended December 31, 2024, management's discussion and analysis and the auditor's report thereon have been provided to shareholders. They are available on our website on NuVista's SEDAR+ profile and on the Lumi dashboard page. No action is required by shareholders on this item. The next item of business is to fix the number of directors.

Mr. Chair, my name is John [indiscernible]. I'm a shareholder. I move the number of directors to be elected at this meeting [indiscernible]

Mr. Chair, my name is [ Ryan Thompson ]. I am a shareholder, and I second the motion.

Thank you, John. Thank you, Ryan. Ivan, is there any discussion or questions submitted from any registered shareholder or proxy holder on that motion?

Mr. Chair, there are no questions on that motion.

Thank you, Ivan. In accordance with NuVista's advanced notice bylaw, the only individuals entitled to be nominated as directors at this meeting are the persons named as nominees in NuVista's information circular. Therefore, as directed by the Board and in accordance with the information circular, Ronald J. Eckhardt; K.L. (Kate) Holzhauser; Pentti O. Karkkainen; Michael J. Lawford; Mary Ellen Lutey; Deborah S. Stein; Jonathan A. Wright; Grant A. Zawalsky are nominated as directors of NuVista to hold office until the next annual election of directors or until their successors are elected or appointed, subject to the provisions of the Business Corporations Act and the bylaws of NuVista. On behalf of the company and its shareholders, I'd like to thank all the directors for their commitment to NuVista. The next item of business is the appointment of auditors.

Mr. Chair, my name is [ Leslie Wismith ]. I am a shareholder and I move that KPMG LLP be appointed auditors of NuVista until the next annual meeting or until their successor is appointed and that their remuneration as such be fixed by the Board of Directors.

Mr. Chair, my name is [ Perry Walker ]. I am a shareholder, and I second the motion.

Thank you, Leslie. Thank you, Perry. Ivan, is there any discussion or questions submitted from any registered shareholder or proxy holder on that motion?

Mr. Chair, there are no questions on that motion.

The next item of business is to approve a nonbinding advisory resolution concerning NuVista's approach to executive compensation.

Mr. Chair, my name is [ Cassie Morin ]. I'm a shareholder, and I move that the nonbinding advisory resolution on Page 13 of the information circular of NuVista dated March 24, 2025, be approved.

Mr. Chair, my name is [indiscernible], I'm a shareholder, and I second the motion.

Thank you, Cassie, and thank you, Rachel. Ivan, is there any discussion or questions submitted from any registered shareholder or proxy holder?

Mr. Chair, there are no questions on that motion.

Ivan, are there any additional questions submitted on the formal business of the meeting?

Mr. Chair, there are no questions on the formal business of the meeting.

And the Chair would entertain a motion to terminate the meeting.

Mr. Chair, my name is Patrick [indiscernible], and I'm a shareholder, and I move that this meeting be terminated.

Mr. Chair, my name is [indiscernible], and I'm a shareholder, and I second the motion.

The meeting operator is activating a poll to vote on the termination of the meeting. For those attending the meeting in person, please signify by raising your right hand. The motion to terminate the meeting has been carried. I therefore declare this meeting terminated and invite our CEO, Mike Lawford, to deliver his remarks.

Thank you, Pentti. The format of the room is very much like a church wedding with the [indiscernible]. So I too like to thank our Board and shareholders for the ongoing support of NuVista and our management team this year and every year. We're also fortunate to have many folks here today on the capital markets, banking, research and audit side. Thank you for coming every year. And again, this year, it's always great to have the support of the people that support us throughout the year and provide us with so much advice. And obviously, the advice this year was to not do a big M&A deal. So thank you for that. So I guess, first off, I'd like to say a few comments just regarding our staff and service providers. I borrowed a very powerful mantra from a colleague of ours -- of mine many years ago that a great company is made up with people that have the three Cs. And that they care, they're curious and they're capable. And I see that every day in our staff here and in the field. And it's really how we built such an incredible culture around the safety of our staff and our people in the field and in our communities and how we built this culture about everybody wanting to be the best every day. So any shareholders that are here that aren't NuVista employees, if you have a chance to shake the hands of the people that work really hard for you every day, I really encourage that you do after the meeting and there's some snacks over there. You can do that over snack. So one thing that can be underappreciated by shareholders is the relationship we have with our service providers. And over the course of the last few years in building such a stable, predictable business plan, we've created an environment where rig hands, frac professionals, production operators have been able to build full-time careers working exclusively for NuVista. And that is very, very different in our industry. Like when I grew up working on drilling rigs, I worked on a different -- for a different oil company every month. And so I didn't care much about the health of the company that I was working for because I knew I was going to be at a different one in the next month. And I go to the field and I'll have a conversation with the [indiscernible] that's worked for us for 10 years, exclusively for us for 10 years, and he's a shareholder, and he's asking me about our return of capital strategy and when a dividend fits. And that's like a [indiscernible] on a drilling rig. And it's -- those people like that really care about the success and it's been a huge part of why we've been able to do so well as a company just with these long-term relationships. So thank you to everybody out there that's sitting on a rig actually listening to this call because they're shareholders, which is really cool. So we've been -- I'm just going to get into the business part of things here. We've been steadfast in our position as a company that bigger is not better, that better is better. And we've committed to the quality of our assets and we're investing your money in a predictable and repeatable growth strategy that will continue to generate best-in-class returns for you, the shareholder. So I'm just going to flip to Page 4 here. So you can all see that. So we've established for many years now that the strategy is working very well for us. So from 2020 to the end of this year, we will have doubled our production from 50,000 to 100,000 barrels per day. We've established a pristine balance sheet, and we've returned what will be well over $0.5 billion of cash to shareholders by the end of this year as well. And that's translated into more than 20% per debt-adjusted share growth every year over that 5-year period. And then one of the guys in research that covers us always says that NuVista is one of the only companies with a license to grow. And I can tell you that it's hard to earn that license, and it's not for the faint of heart. Your growth needs to be sustainable, profitable and resilient in order to build a business plan around growth. And the sustainability of our growth shows up, I would say, best when you understand and take a closer look at our reserves growth. So while doubling our production, and this is the same time period here from 2020 to 2024, we've doubled our production. And you can see that by the end of 2025, when you follow those dark blue bars there, that's the growth in our PDP reserves. So you would expect that our PDP reserves would be doubling along with your production growth, and that has happened. And -- but the interesting thing is when you think about the longevity and the sustainability while we've been growing, we've actually been growing the runway in front of us. And you can see that in the growth of our proved plus probable and developed reserves in the dark gray there, growing over that time period by 1/3. And all along, we're sitting with an inventory of 1,200 undeveloped locations, which represents 25 years of inventory at our current rate of growth. So the right side of this chart here is really important. This talks about the profitability and the resilience of our growth plan. So this is from one of our research coverage here. On the Y-axis, this is our 3-year production per share growth. And you can see NuVista plotted there in the top quartile of all of our peer group at 12% over the last 2 years, 12% per year. And then the X-axis on that chart is our 3-year PDP recycle ratio sitting up there as one of the second best in the industry. And what that metric is for those of you that don't know is just basically the -- what you're getting for your barrels divided by how much it's costing to find them. So for the last 3 years, we've spent roughly $11 to find a barrel that's been worth $30, and that's sitting at the top of the peer group. And when you think of a year like 2024, when you talk about the resilience of our business, the resilience of our business showed up in a year where AECO gas prices were a disaster in 2024. But given the condensate weighting of our production and the diversification where we sell our gas, we still managed to provide a recycle ratio of just under 2. So looking forward, we're going to keep doing, as I mentioned before, exactly what we've been doing over the past 5 years. And we're going to grow production, and that shows on the left there on the production chart, 7% to 10% per year starting in 2025 out to 2028. We're going to grow up to 125,000 BOE per day over that period. And on the right side, this is the free cash flow that we're going to generate every year. And going forward, the dark green lines on the bottom reflect basically prices right where they are today for oil and for natural gas. And then the dark -- or sorry, the light green bars on the top reflect a much more robust price deck at $80 oil and $4 gas. But over that time period, that equates to between just under 10% of our current market cap generated in free cash flow. So this is, again, is just a continuation of what's happened over the last 5 years, 10% growth, 10% cash to return to shareholders, generating 20% per share growth, all with a very long runway in front of us. So with that, I'd like to thank you all for coming, and I look forward to sharing our 2025 accomplishments with you 1 year from now.

Yes, that's a good question. So from NuVista's perspective, there's been a very challenging environment in the domestic gas market. And we've spent the last 7 or 8 years diversifying where we sell our gas. So we only sell about 10% of our -- of the gas we produce in Western Canada, and the rest is sold to the other four different markets throughout North America. So we've actually been enjoying very, very robust gas prices over the last period of time. And second part of that is our gas, we almost joke that it's a byproduct of the condensate we produce. So although 70% of the volumes of commodity that we produce are gas, 60% to 70% of the revenue comes from the condensate barrel.

I spoke that. [indiscernible].

Fair point, and definitely not a rationalization. Any other questions? With that, thank you all for coming. And again, we'll see you next year.