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Range Resources LTD (RRL) Add to Alerts list Print Mail a friend Friday 08 June, 2012 Range Resources LTD Texas Reserves Upgrade
8 June 2012
The Manager Company Announcements Australian Securities Exchange Limited Level 6, 20 Bridge Street Sydney NSW 2000
By e-lodgement
TEXAS RESERVES UPGRADE
Highlights
- Range's net attributable interest * in Proved Reserves increase by 54-57%
- Range's net attributable interest * in Probable Reserves increased by 16-20%
* net of government and overriding royalties
Range Resources Limited ("Range" or "the Company") is pleased to announce a significant increase in Proved (P1) and Probable (P2), reserves for the North Chapman Ranch Project, in which Range holds a 20-25% interest.
The Company engaged leading Independent Petroleum Consultants Forrest A. Garb and Associates ("Forrest Garb") to complete a review of the North Chapman Ranch reserves following the successful completion of the Smith #2 and Albrecht wells that has seen a significant reclassification of the previous Possible (P3) reserves into the Proved (P1) and Probable (P2) categories.
Set out below is a comparison of the gross reserves (100% basis) for the Company's North Chapman Ranch asset between the previous reserve update in December 2011 and the current gross reserves update for June 2012.
Category Oil Natural Gas Natural Gas Liquids (MMbbls) (Bcf) (MMBbls) Dec Jun %age Dec Jun %age Dec Jun %age `11 `12 Mvmt `11 `12 Mvmt `11 `12 Mvmt Proved (P1) 5.1 8.4 +64% 64.3 106.0 +65% 5.0 8.0 +60% Probable (P2) 3.7 4.4 +19% 48.6 56.7 +17% 3.8 4.4 +16% Possible (P3) 9.9 5.0 -50% 129.6 64.8 -50% 10.1 5.1 -50% Total Reserves 18.7 17.8 242.5 227.5 18.9 17.5
Set out below is the comparison between June 2012 and December 2011 of Range's attributable interest in the net reserves on the Company's North Chapman Ranch asset which is net of government and overriding royalties and represents Range's economic interests in its development and production assets as classified in the report from Forest Garb.
Category Oil Natural Gas Natural Gas Liquids (MMbbls) (Bcf) (MMBbls) Dec Jun %age Dec Jun %age Dec Jun %age `11 `12 Mvmt `11 `12 Mvmt `11 `12 Mvmt Proved (P1) 0.7 1.1 +57% 7.6 11.7 +54% 0.7 1.1 +57% Probable (P2) 0.5 0.6 +20% 5.5 6.4 +16% 0.5 0.6 +16% Possible (P3) 1.3 0.7 -46% 14.6 7.3 -50% 1.3 0.7 -46% Total Reserves 2.5 2.4 27.7 25.4 2.5 2.4
Based on the reserve numbers cited above, Forrest Garb's estimated net undiscounted cash flow value to Range for Proved (P1), Probable (P2) and Possible (P3), along with discounted cash flow (at a 10% discount rate) valuation based on the Nymex forward strip prices reported on 7 March 2012 following reductions for royalties, opex, capex, production taxes etc is as follows:
Nymex Forward Strip Nymex Forward Strip Price at Price at 1 October 2011 7 March 2012 Category Undiscounted PV10 Undiscounted PV10 US$'m US$'m US$'m US$'m Proved (P1) 116 67 165 93 Probable (P2) 86 43 89 39 Possible (P3) 246 95 102 37 Total 448 205 356 169
The Company notes that the valuation of the Company's interest in the Proved and Probable Reserves has not increased to the same extent of the actual percentage increase in physical volumes, which is primarily related to the significant reduction in the futures gas price since the previous report.
With the drilling of the Smith #2 and Albrecht #1 wells, gross current average production from the field increased to approximately 4.5 MMcfd and 394 Bopd.
With the field having now been largely appraised and value demonstrated, the Company has commenced with the sale of its North Chapman Ranch interests targeting completion in Q3 2012 so that it can focus its capital on higher value adding opportunities in its portfolio. Any such divestiture decision will be based on market conditions and the ability to achieve a sales price that appropriately reflects the value of the project interest.
East Texas Cotton Valley
Work also continues in the Company's East Texas Cotton Valley project area, where additional sections of the Ross 3H horizontal well were recently fracture stimulated and are currently unloading frac fluids. With approximately 5000 barrels of load left to recover, the well has already yielded early indications of oil saturation, consistent with strong oil shows recorded during drilling.
If successful, the Ross 3H well is expected to form the basis of a new horizontal development of the shallow oil reservoir within the Cotton Valley formation. The project is considered to be analogous to the neighbouring Clarksville Field, which is expected to ultimately produce more than 7 million barrels of oil.
Added Peter Landau, Range's Executive Director, "We are extremely pleased with the recent results from our Texas drilling programs, which has confirmed what the Company had strived to do in increasing shareholder value through the increase in the Company's share of Proved and Probable reserves from the North Chapman Ranch Project. This now paves the way for the Company to commence divestment of the Company's interest in the project during Q3 2012. The sales prices of similar production assets in the region have been encouraging, and any such divestment will provide significant funding that could be applied to Range's current activities and other possible corporate initiatives such as an on market share buy back."
The Company looks forward to providing operational updates for Trinidad and Colombia next week.
Yours faithfully
Peter Landau |