Mr. John Wright reports
LIGHTSTREAM ANNOUNCES CLOSING OF $378 MILLION ASSET SALE
Lightstream Resources Ltd. has closed its previously announced agreement with Crescent Point Energy Ltd. to sell the remaining assets in its southeast Saskatchewan conventional business unit for gross proceeds of $378.4-million. Proceeds include cash consideration of $375-million (before customary adjustments) and three key parcels of Bakken rights valued at $3.4-million that will enable the company to accelerate the expansion its Creelman enhanced oil recovery (EOR) project.
Further positive attributes of this transaction include:
- The elimination of $38.5-million of future abandonment and reclamation liabilities on the company's balance sheet to reflect the disposition of approximately 450 net wells and associated facilities;
- A reduction in the company's capital expenditure guidance for 2014 by $15-million;
- The elimination of future regulatory compliance costs associated with sour gas venting at these properties.
Consistent with other divestment activity in 2014, the company applied cash proceeds to reduce corporate debt which, pro forma June 30, 2014, and following the transactions to date, is approximately $1.5-billion. The amount drawn on the company's secured term credit facility is now approximately $500-million, leaving $650-million of available liquidity under the facility.
With the balance sheet strengthened and divestiture targets exceeded, the company remains focused on operational efficiency and the effective deployment of capital in its core operating areas. The company currently has three rigs drilling in its Cardium business unit and a fourth rig active in its Bakken business unit. It is also on target to commence natural gas injection in two further patterns in the company's Bakken EOR initiative before year-end.
We seek Safe Harbor.
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