Announces $8.2 Million 2015 Oil & Gas
Capital Expenditure Budget
Reduces Debt by 25%
U.S. Energy Corp. (Nasdaq:USEG) (the "Company"), today announced
the appointment of Mr. David Veltri as President and Chief
Operating Officer ("COO") of the Company, effective January 1,
2015. In addition, the Company announced the approval by its Board
of Directors of an $8.2 million 2015 oil & gas capital
expenditures ("CAPEX") budget and announced the reduction of its
debt by 25%, from $8 million to $6 million.
Mr. David Veltri – President and COO
Prior to joining U.S. Energy Corp., Mr. Veltri was the Chief
Operating Officer of Denver, Colorado based Emerald Oil, Inc. While
at Emerald, Mr. Veltri managed all aspects of oil and gas
operations and supporting activities, including oversight of a
three rig drilling program and field operations from well spud to
sales, evaluation of acquisition targets including both producing
properties and undeveloped leases, and was integral in converting
Emerald from a non-operated position into an operator in North
Dakota during his tenure.
Mr. Veltri has over 33 years of oil and gas industry experience
with a major oil company and several independent oil companies,
where he has managed and engineered all phases of upstream and
mid-stream oil and gas operations, covering North Dakota, Wyoming,
the Rocky Mountains, the Southern U.S., Mid-Continent, Louisiana,
Texas and various international locations. His previous roles
include Vice President / General Manager of Baytex Energy USA Ltd.,
where he managed that company's transition in the Williston Basin
from non-operator to an operated upstream oil and gas business with
working interests in over 100,000 acres, 100 wells, a two-rig
drilling program, completion operations and an active acquisition
program. Other previous roles include Production Manager at El Paso
Exploration and Production Company, Vice President of Production
and Drilling at Yuma Exploration and Production Company, Project
Engineer at EOG Resources, and Vice President of Production and
Engineering at Chesapeake Energy Corp.
Mr. Veltri began his career in the oil and gas industry as a
petroleum engineer for Amoco Production Company, and he received a
Bachelor of Science in Mining and Engineering from West Virginia
University.
2015 Oil and Gas Capital Expenditure Budget
On December 4, 2014, the Company's Board of Directors approved
an $8.2 million oil and gas capital expenditure budget for 2015.
Under the approved budget, the Company currently plans to
participate in the drilling of four wells located in South Texas
during the year, comprised of two Eagle Ford wells with Contango
Oil & Gas Company and two wells with U.S. Enercorp. The
formation targets with U.S. Enercorp are yet to be determined
pending the evaluation of our recent drilling in the leasehold.
Currently, the Company has not allocated Capex for the
development of our portfolio of drilling locations located in
Williston Basin of North Dakota during 2015. However, we will
continue to monitor the economics of the basin and our drilling
programs in particular, and if wells are proposed during the course
of the year we could allocate additional funding for the drilling
of these wells on a case-by-case basis. We currently participate in
fifty seven 1,280 acre units in North Dakota and all of these units
are held by production.
Actual timing of drilling and completing wells and the
anticipated number of gross and net wells to be drilled could vary
in each of our prospects. Amounts budgeted for each drilling
program are subject to change based on a number of factors
including, but not limited to, commodity prices, well costs,
drilling and completion success, availability of capital and
weather-related issues. The Company plans to fund its budget from
cash on hand, cash flow from operations, and borrowings under its
secured revolving credit facility with Wells Fargo, as
warranted.
Reserve Based Credit Facility
The Company has a reserve based credit facility with Wells Fargo
Bank, National Association. Currently, the maximum credit available
under the credit facility is $100.0 million and the borrowing base
under the facility is $24.5 million. On December 10, 2014, the
Company reduced its debt under the facility from $8 million to $6
million from cash on hand.
CEO Statement
"We are pleased to announce the addition of Mr. Veltri to our
team of oil and gas professionals here at the Company. Mr. Veltri
brings a wide breadth of technical and operational expertise with
an emphasis on the Williston Basin of North Dakota where he has
managed all facets of oil and gas development for Emerald and
Baytex Energy. We plan to utilize his expertise as we look for
opportunities to transition into an operator going forward," stated
Keith Larsen, CEO of the Company. "Additionally, we have announced
a conservative drilling schedule during 2015 in light of the
softened commodity price environment. We will monitor our drilling
commitments and development opportunities during the year and
adjust our level of activity according to the markets. If oil
prices continue to soften or stay at current levels during the
balance of 2015, we believe that the opportunity to act on
accretive acquisitions will be significant. We are well positioned
to weather the current downturn in oil prices due to the fact that
we are not over-levered. We have a low level of debt relative to
the size of the Company's drilling portfolio, with access to
liquidity through our reserve based line of credit, as well as
meaningful cash flow from operations," he added.
About U.S. Energy Corp.
U.S. Energy Corp. is a natural resource exploration and
development company with oil and gas assets located primarily in
North Dakota and Texas. The Company is headquartered in Riverton,
Wyoming and trades on the NASDAQ Capital Market under the symbol
"USEG".
The U.S. Energy Corp. logo is available at
http://www.globenewswire.com/newsroom/prs/?pkgid=5043
Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking
Statements
This news release includes statements which may constitute
"forward-looking" statements, usually containing the words "will,"
"anticipates," "believe," "estimate," "project," "expect,"
"target," "goal," or similar expressions. Forward looking
statements in this release relate to, among other things, the
nature and amount of the Company's 2015 capital expenditures,
drilling and development projects, potential acquisition
opportunities and business strategy. The forward-looking
statements are made pursuant to the safe harbor provision of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. Forward-looking statements inherently involve risks and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from the forward-looking statements. Factors that would cause
or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to,
the risks described in the Company's filings with the SEC
(including, without limitation, the Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2013 and the Form 10-Q for the quarter ended September
30, 2014) all of which are incorporated herein by
reference. By making these forward-looking statements, the
Company undertakes no obligation to update these statements for
revision or changes after the date of this release.
CONTACT: For further information, please contact:
Reggie Larsen
Director of Investor Relations
U.S. Energy Corp.
1-800-776-9271
Reggie@usnrg.com
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