Epsilon Energy: “Focused” on Marcellus, Buying Land in Anadarko

|

From time to time we check in on Canadian driller and midstream company Epsilon Energy. Epsilon, you may recall, had a shareholder rebellion in 2013 and threw out the sitting board of directors (see Shareholder Rebellion at Epsilon Energy – New Board as of Today). Epsilon CEO Michael Raleigh announced at the time that the company had embarked on a turnaround strategy of focusing on the Marcellus Shale–less than a year after saying they would scale back in the Marcellus (see Epsilon Energy Makes “About-Face” on Marcellus Drilling). Epsilon was and remains a very small player in the Marcellus, but the Marcellus is the company’s entire focus. At least that’s what they say. Epsilon did not drill any new new Marcellus wells in 2016. They spent just $300,000 on capital expenditures for all of 2016, and that was money spent on the Auburn Gas Gathering system in northeast PA (they own a 35% interest in the system). What about 2017? Epsilon plans to spend $1 million in capex in the Marcellus–half of it “for the ongoing development of the midstream system” (i.e. the Auburn system) and the other half to complete four Marcellus wells previously drilled (see Epsilon Energy’s Marcellus Budget Inches Up to $1M in 2017). Epsilon recently issued its first quarter 2017 update. It shows the company spent just $100,000 on capital expenditures during 1Q17–most of it on the Auburn Gas Gathering system. Revenue was up for the quarter–from $5.6 million in 1Q16 to $8 million in 1Q17. One thing we found somewhat incongruous with their “focus on the Marcellus” statements: the company recently raised money in an “over-subscribed Rights Offering” to “continue building our land position in the Anadarko Basin.” The Anadako is located in Oklahoma and Texas, nowhere near the Marcellus…

Please Login to view this content. (Not a member? Join Today!)
You do not have permission to view the comments.