/NOT FOR PUBLICATION OR DISTRIBUTION IN
THE UNITED STATES. ANY FAILURE TO
COMPLY WITH THIS RESTRICTION MAY CONSTITUTE A VIOLATION OF U.S.
SECURITIES LAW./
CALGARY,
AB, Nov. 7, 2022 /CNW/ - Chronos
Resources Ltd. ("Chronos") and Samoth Oilfield
Inc. ("Samoth") (TSXV: SCD) are pleased to announce
that they have entered into a definitive agreement dated
November 7, 2022 (the
"Agreement") providing for a business combination
transaction (the "Transaction").
Pursuant to the Transaction:
- Chronos will complete an equity private placement (the
"Financing") for maximum aggregate gross proceeds of
$65.0 million;
- Chronos and Samoth will complete a business combination which
will result in the reconstitution of the management team and board
of directors of Samoth with the current management team (the
"New Management Team") and board of directors (the "New
Board") of Chronos. The New Management Team will be led by
Dave Burton as President and Chief
Executive Officer, Lindsay Goos as
Chief Financial Officer, Jamie
Conboy as Vice President, Exploration, Kyle Boon as Vice President, Operations and
Jeff Rideout as Vice President,
Land. The New Board will be comprised of Dave Burton, Kevin
Olson, Ian Atkinson,
Ali Horvath, Bruce Beynon, Don
Cowie, and Kel Johnston.
Sanjib (Sony) Gill, a partner in the
Calgary office of the national law
firm Stikeman Elliott LLP, will act as Corporate Secretary. In
addition, Neil Roszell will serve as
a Special Advisor to the New Board;
- the resulting issuer created from the combination of Samoth and
Chronos (the "Resulting Issuer") will be renamed "Lycos
Energy Inc." (the "Name Change") and is expected to
trade on the TSX Venture Exchange (the "TSXV") under the new
stock symbol "LCX" as a Tier 1 oil and gas issuer;
- each issued and outstanding common share in the capital of
Chronos (each, a "Chronos Share") will be acquired by Samoth
in exchange for twenty (20) common shares in the capital of Samoth
("Samoth Shares") at a deemed price of C$0.035 per
Samoth Share (the
"Acquisition"), with the final number of Samoth Shares to be
issued being determined based on the size of the Financing;
and
- Samoth will complete
a consolidation of the Samoth Shares
on the basis of one (1)
post-consolidation Samoth Share (each, a "Resulting
Issuer Share") for every eight (8) pre-consolidation Samoth
Shares (the "Consolidation"), representing an exchange
ratio, on a post-Consolidation basis, of two and a half (2.5)
Resulting Issuer Shares at a deemed price of C$0.28 per
Resulting Issuer Shares for every Chronos Share.
The Transaction is expected to be completed on or about
December 12, 2022, subject to the
completion of the Financing and customary closing conditions,
including approval by the TSXV.
Chronos Overview
Chronos is an oil-focused, exploration, development and
production company based in Calgary,
Alberta, operating high-quality, heavy-oil, development
assets in the Gull Lake area of
southwest Saskatchewan and
heavy-oil assets in the Lloydminster area of Saskatchewan and Alberta (collectively, the
"Assets").
Pre-Transaction Corporate Highlights
Successful Leadership Team
- Extensive experience drilling and completing multi-stage
horizontal wells in unconventional resource plays
- Management team has previously led drilling programs in the
Sparky, Shaunavon and Viking
- Experienced board of directors ensures highest standards of
corporate governance and capital stewardship
Compelling Emerging Development Asset
- Development inventory of 100+ risked locations
- Wells are low-cost vs. deeper plays
in basin, reducing event risk and increasing economics of
program
- Optimized drilling and completion techniques are leading to
improved initial rates and lower costs
Strong Financial Position
- Low decline production base provides stable free cash flow with
limited maintenance capital or liability management
- Strong balance sheet with no debt and forecast 2022E Q4
Annualized EBITDA of >$11.7
million
- Positive working capital of $2.2
million
- 2022 capital program of $6.7
million fully funded with cash flow
- 2023 capital program to be expanded to include increased
drilling, new facilities and acquisition capital
Low Decline Production Base
- Heavy oil production of 1,050 boe/d (99% oil) in SW Saskatchewan and Lloydminster
-
- Lloydminster – Mannville stacked sands and channels – Colony,
Mclaren, Waseca, Sparky, GP, Rex,
Lloyd and Cummings, 99% operated with average working interest of
98%
- SW Saskatchewan – Cantuar,
Success, Roseray and Upper Shaunavon formations
- Stable production with low decline rate (<10%)
-
- Decline from Q1 to Q2 2022 was 0% with no drilling
- Enhanced by a waterflood program and continuous field
optimization
Asset Summary
Current
production(1)
|
1,050
boe/d (99% oil)
|
Annual
decline rate(2)
|
<10%
|
Land(3)
|
38,904
net acres
|
Net locations(4)
|
42.5
booked (32.5 unbooked)
|
Forecast 2023 month forward operating netback(5)
|
$38.89/boe
|
Run rate net operating income
(6)
|
$15.4
million
|
Reserves
|
|
Proved developed
producing ("PDP") reserves(7)
|
1,295
Mboe
|
Proved reserves(7)
|
2,588 Mboe
|
Total proved
+ probable reserves(7)
|
5,108 Mboe
|
TPP RLI(7)(8)
|
15.2 years
|
Notes:
|
|
(1)
|
Comprised of 829 bbl/d
heavy oil, 142 bbl/d light and medium oil, and 474 mcf/d
natural gas
|
(2)
|
Decline rate based on
2021 versus
2020 PDP reserves. See "Reader Advisory
– Reserves Disclosure", below.
|
(3)
|
15,482 net undeveloped
and developed acres in southwest Saskatchewan and 23,422 net
undeveloped and developed acres
in Lloydminster.
|
(4)
|
42.5 net booked
locations (25.8 proved undeveloped plus 16.7 probable undeveloped).
See "Reader Advisory – Drilling Locations" for additional
details.
|
(5)
|
The estimated operating
netback was derived using estimated go-forward royalties
and operating costs utilizing 27.01/boe, 2023 flat pricing
which averages US$80/bbl WTI, US$17.25 WCS/bbl all for the
forecasted 12-month period from January, 2023 to December,
2023 and a US dollar/Canadian exchange rate of 1.35
CAD:USD. The operating cost and royalty
utilized for the operating netback
calculation is $27.01/boe and $13.01/boe (or 16.5% of oil and gas revenue), respectively. See
"Reader Advisory – Specified Financial Measures" for
additional detail.
|
(6)
|
Run rate net operating
income is based on the expected fourth quarter average production
of 1,242 boe/d, and an operating netback in respect of
the Assets of $33.54/boe. See Note (5), above, and "Reader
Advisory – Specified Financial Measures " for additional
details.
|
(7)
|
Working interest before
royalty reserves. See "Reader Advisory – Reserves
Disclosure".
|
(8)
|
The reserve life index
("RLI") is calculated by dividing TPP reserves as of
December 31, 2021 (5,108 MMboe) by
estimated production on the
Closing Date of 1,193 boe/d. RLIs are
not necessarily comparable between different issuers
as there may be variation in calculation
methodology. Management views RLI as a useful measure of the
length of time the reserves would be produced at the estimated
rate of production. See "Reader Advisory – Reserves
Disclosure".
|
New Management Team
The Resulting Issuer will be led by the existing management team
of Chronos: Dave Burton (President
and Chief Executive Officer); Lindsay
Goos (Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial Officer);
Jamie Conboy (Vice President,
Exploration); Kyle Boon, (Vice
President, Operations); Jeff Rideout
(Vice President, Land); and Sony Gill (Corporate Secretary).
Dave Burton, President and Chief
Executive Officer (Calgary,
Canada)
Mr. Burton has more than 27 years of experience in the upstream
oil and gas industry in all facets of petroleum engineering work
including reservoir engineering, evaluations, secondary and
tertiary recovery, unconventional oil and gas, area development and
acid gas projects including work on CO2 sequestration in coals. He
has had numerous executive roles and been involved in founding
multiple successful start up energy companies. Prior to founding
Chronos, Mr. Burton was a co-founder at Raging River Exploration
Inc. ("Raging River") and Wild Stream Exploration Inc.
("Wild Stream").
Mr. Burton is a professional engineer and a member of the
Alberta Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of
Alberta. Mr. Burton holds degrees
in Petroleum Engineering from the University
of Alberta (BSc) and a Master of Engineering degree in
Chemical and Petroleum Engineering from the University of Calgary.
Lindsay Goos, Vice President,
Finance and Chief Financial Officer (Calgary, Canada)
Ms. Goos has 20 years of experience in the oil and gas industry
in the disciplines of finance, financial reporting, budgeting,
accounting, management, treasury, tax and business development.
Previously, Founder, VP Finance & CFO of Imaginea Energy Ltd.
and prior thereto Controller of BlackShire Energy Ltd. Ms. Goos
began her professional career with KPMG LLP and has held
progressively senior roles at various other oil and gas
companies.
Ms. Goos is a member of the Chartered Professional Accountants
of Alberta and is a Chartered
Professional in Human Resources of Alberta. Ms. Goos holds a Bachelor of Commerce
and Arts degree from the University of
Saskatchewan.
Jamie Conboy, Vice President,
Exploration (Calgary, Canada)
Jamie Conboy is professional
geologist, most recently working as subsurface lead with Bison Low
Carbon Ventures (CCS) and formerly as founding member of the Storm
Group of companies for 20 years in capacities of Vice President
Geoscience and Chief Geologist. In his previous 12 years in the
industry Mr. Conboy has worked on a variety of properties and play
types at Canadian Hunter Exploration Ltd, Renaissance Energy Ltd.
and Pinnacle Resources Ltd, among others.
Mr. Conboy is a registered Professional Geologist and
Responsible Member of APEGA in the Province of Alberta and holds a B.Sc. (Honours) in Geology
from Queen's University (1992).
Kyle Boon, Vice President,
Operations (Calgary,
Canada)
Mr. Boon has 20 years' experience in the Western Canadian oil
and gas sector. Mr. Boon most recently was a Founder and the
Drilling and Completions Manager of Raging River and prior thereto
held the role of Senior Production Technologist at Wild Stream.
Mr. Boon holds a Petroleum Engineering Technology Diploma from
the Northern Alberta Institute of Technology and is a member of the
Association of Science & Engineering Technology Professionals
of Alberta (ASET).
Jeff Rideout, Vice President,
Land (Calgary,
Canada)
Mr. Rideout has over 20 years of experience in the oil and gas
industry in the disciplines of commercial negotiations,
acquisitions and divestitures in private, public and service
companies. Mr. Rideout was previously a Senior Land/Commercial
Negotiator with Whitecap Resources Inc., TORC Oil and Gas Ltd, and
prior thereto Founder and Vice President Elkhorn Resources Inc.
Jeff holds his Professional Landman (P.Land) designation and
earned a Master of Business Administration (MBA) degree from The
Haskayne School of Business, and a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree
from the University of Calgary.
Sony Gill, Corporate Secretary (Calgary, Canada)
Mr. Gill is a partner at Stikeman Elliot LLP in the Capital
Markets and Mergers & Acquisitions Groups. His practice focuses
on public and private company creation, growth, restructuring and
value maximization. He has extensive experience in the negotiation,
structuring and consummation of a broad range of corporate finance,
securities and M&A transactions, including public and private
debt and equity financings, strategic investments, joint ventures,
recapitalizations, restructurings, takeover bids, reverse
takeovers, asset acquisitions and divestitures, share purchases and
dispositions, plans of arrangement, spin-outs and other forms of
business combination and corporate activity.
New Board
Upon completion of the Transaction, the New Board will be
comprised of Dave Burton and the
following independent directors: Kevin
Olson (Chair), Ian Atkinson,
Ali Horvath, Bruce Beynon, Don Cowie and Kel Johnston. In addition, Neil Roszell will serve as a Special Advisor to
the New Board. The members of the New Board have strong track
records and distinguished careers in both the oil and gas industry
and capital markets, each having held prominent lead positions
within a range of successful companies. Their combined experience
and expertise will provide the New Management Team with invaluable
advice, guidance and support.
Kevin Olson, Chair (Calgary, Canada)
Mr. Olson has over 27 years of industry experience and is
currently a director of Headwater Exploration Inc.
("Headwater"). Mr. Olson is a former board member of Raging
River, Wild Stream, Wild River Resources Inc. ("Wild River")
and Prairie Schooner Petroleum Ltd. Mr. Olson has managed four
early stage energy funds and served as a director of a variety of
exploration and production companies and petroleum services
companies. Formerly Mr. Olson was Vice-President, Corporate Finance
at FirstEnergy Capital Corp. and Vice-President, Corporate
Development for Northrock Resources Ltd. Mr. Olson holds a Bachelor
of Commerce degree majoring in finance and accounting from the
University of Calgary.
Ian Atkinson (Calgary, Canada)
Mr. Atkinson has been the founder of several private and public
oil and gas companies, with over 27 years of technical, executive
and board of director experience. Mr. Atkinson has been President
and CEO of Southern Energy Corp. (formerly Gulf Pine Energy
Partners LP) since 2014. Prior thereto, Mr. Atkinson was a founder
and Senior Executive Officer of Athabasca Oil Corporation.
Ali Horvath (Calgary, Canada)
Ms. Horvath is the Vice President, Finance and Chief Financial
Officer of Headwater. Ms. Horvath was previously a founder and the
Controller of Raging River and prior thereto was a Senior Financial
Accountant with Wild Stream. Ms. Horvath is a Chartered
Professional Accountant and holds a Bachelor of Management degree
from the University of Lethbridge.
Kel Johnston (Calgary, Canada)
Mr. Johnston is currently CEO of Wylander Crude Corp, a firm
that provides consultancy services to oil and gas and private
equity clients in Canada and the
USA. He is also a Technical
Advisor to Carbon Infrastructure Partners.
Mr. Johnston has forty years of technical/financial/ ESG
experience in the Canadian and Northern
USA oil and gas sector, and capital markets experience from
public companies to the oversight of private equity investments to
leading edge carbon Capture and Storage knowledge. He has been
directly involved in the conceptualization, discovery and
exploitation of numerous oil and gas pools from the foothills of
Alberta, BC and Montana to the plains of SE Saskatchewan. Mr.Johnston has maintained
technical skills through ownership/active technical role in a
private E&P company that holds interests in 2 CCUS projects. He
has over thirty years of experience as a founder, executive and
board member of numerous public and private oil and gas companies.
Direct experience in a wide range of corporate activities including
capital markets, private equity, ESG, mergers,
sales/acquisition/strategic processes and IPOs.
Mr. Johnston is a Professional Geologist and holds a Bachelor of
Science (Hons.) degree in Geology from the University of Manitoba and a Masters degree in
Economics from the University of
Calgary.
Bruce Beynon (Calgary, Canada)
Mr. Beynon is a professional geologist with over 30 years of oil
and gas industry experience. Mr. Beynon is currently the President
of Tiburon Exploration Corp., a private consulting company. Prior
thereto, Mr. Beynon was Executive Vice President, Exploration and
Corporate Development at Baytex Energy Corp. Prior to the merger
between Baytex and Raging River, Mr. Beynon held several positions
with Raging River including President, Executive Vice President and
Vice President, Exploration. Mr. Beynon graduated with a Bachelors
and Masters of Science degree in Geology from the University of Alberta. Mr. Beynon serves on the
Board of Southern Energy Corp., a TSXV listed company with focused
operations in the southeast Gulf States of the US.
Don Cowie (Calgary, Canada)
Mr. Cowie was the founding Partner of JOG Capital in 2002 and
was the President of the firm from its inception until his
retirement in December 2017. JOG raised over $1 Billion dollars in upstream oil and gas
capital during his tenure. Prior to founding JOG, Mr. Cowie
was the head of Energy Investment Banking for Bank of America in
Calgary, and prior thereto was one
of the founders and directors of two junior oil and gas
companies.
Special Advisor to the New Board
Neil Roszell (Calgary, Canada)
Mr. Roszell is the CEO & Chairman of Headwater and has been
a founder of six successful oil and gas companies. His roles have
included Director, President and Chief Executive Officer of Raging
River, Wild Stream and Wild River. Prior thereto he was President
and Chief Operating Officer of Prairie Schooner Petroleum Ltd. and
Vice-President of Engineering of Great Northern Exploration Ltd.
Mr. Roszell has a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Engineering
from the University of Regina.
Corporate Strategy
The New Management Team has extensive experience in creating
shareholder value through a focused full-cycle business plan and
believes the current market environment provides an excellent
opportunity to reposition Samoth through the consolidation of
high-quality assets at attractive acquisition values. Following the
completion of the Transaction, the New Management Team expects to
focus on predominantly heavy oil opportunities in Alberta and Saskatchewan, growing through a targeted
acquisition and consolidation strategy complemented by development
and exploration drilling. The recapitalized corporate structure
will allow the Resulting Issuer to exploit its opportunity suite
through internally generated prospects and strategic acquisitions.
The New Management Team will focus on maintaining a clean balance
sheet while targeting high quality, oil weighted assets with
sustainable cash flow under current commodity prices.
The New Management Team expects to acquire and develop
underexploited, undercapitalized and distressed assets and
corporates. In addition, the New Management Team intends to
implement cost reduction strategies and focus on efficient capital
allocation to enhance investor returns. The recapitalized Company
will invest in the highest tier drilling inventory while generating
free cash flow to fund further acquisitions and potential
dividends.
Upon completion of the Transaction, the Resulting Issuer is
expected to have a net cash position of approximately $63.2 million, assuming the Private Placement is
fully subscribed. The New Management Team believes that this
starting point will provide it with a platform for aggressive
growth through strategic acquisitions and internally generated
prospects. Upon completion of the Transaction and subject to all
regulatory and shareholder approvals, it is anticipated that the
New Management Team will change the name of Samoth from "Samoth
Oilfield Inc." to "Lycos Energy Inc.".
The Acquisition
Completion of the Acquisition is subject to the satisfaction of
a number of conditions, including, but not limited to: (i) receipt
of the approval of shareholders of Chronos; (ii) receipt of
conditional approval from the TSXV for the Transaction and the
issuance of Samoth Shares pursuant to the Transaction; (iii)
completion of the Financing, which shall be deemed to occur once
the net proceeds of the sale of the Subscription Receipts (as
defined below) are released to Chronos and the subscription
receipts (the "Subscription Receipts") of Chronos are
exchanged for Chronos Shares, which shall occur upon the Escrow
Release Conditions (as defined below) being satisfied, as described
below; (iv) all conditions under the Agreement (other than the
issuance of Samoth Shares necessary to complete the Transaction)
having been satisfied or waived; and (v) receipt of all other
required regulatory, governmental and third party approvals.
Pursuant to the Acquisition:
- all of the outstanding Chronos Shares, including the 31,399,439
Chronos Shares currently issued and outstanding and such number of
Chronos Shares as may be issued pursuant to the Financing,
including in exchange for the Subscription Receipts, shall be
exchanged for Resulting Issuer Shares by the holders thereof, on
the basis two and a half (2.5) Resulting Issuer Shares for every
one Chronos Share held (as per a deemed value of $0.70 per Chronos Share); and
- all of the Chronos Share purchase warrants ("Chronos
Warrants") to be issued pursuant to the Financing, shall be
adjusted in accordance with paragraph (i) above.
The Financing
In conjunction with the completion of the Acquisition, Chronos
will complete:
- a private placement of Subscription Receipts at a price of
$0.70 per Subscription Receipt for
maximum aggregate gross proceeds of up to $53.0 million (the "Subscription Receipt
Private Placement"); and
- a private placement of units (the "Units") of Chronos at
a price of $0.70 per Unit for maximum
aggregate gross proceeds of up to $12.0
million to certain members of the New Management Team and
the New Board, together with certain additional subscribers
identified by such persons, with each Unit being comprised of one
(1) Chronos Share and one (1) Chronos Warrant (the "Unit Private
Placement").
The completion of the Financing is expected to occur on or about
November 28, 2022.
Gross proceeds from the sale of Subscription Receipts will be
held in escrow pending the satisfaction of the escrow release
conditions set out in the subscription receipt agreement (the
"Subscription Receipt Agreement") to be entered into between
Chronos and the subscription receipt agent. Gross proceeds from the
sale of the Units will also be held in escrow pending the
satisfaction of the escrow release conditions set out in the
subscription agreements to be entered into in respect of the Unit
Private Placement. The escrow release conditions for both the
Subscription Receipts and the Units include the satisfaction of all
conditions precedent to completing the Transaction as set forth in
the Agreement and, in the case of the Subscription Receipts only,
the Subscription Receipt Agreement. Upon the satisfaction of the
escrow release conditions, net proceeds from the sale of the
Subscription Receipts and Units will be released from escrow to
Chronos and for no additional consideration and without any further
action on the part of the holder thereof: (i) Common Shares will be
issued to holders of Subscription Receipts; and (ii) Common Shares
and Warrants will be released to holders of Units. If the escrow
release conditions are not satisfied or the Agreement is terminated
in accordance with its terms, the purchase price for the
Subscription Receipts and the Units will be returned pro rata to
subscribers, together with a pro rata portion of interest earned on
the escrowed funds, if any.
Each Chronos Warrant will entitle the holder thereof to purchase
one (1) Chronos Share for a period of five (5) years following the
date of issuance at an exercise price of $0.70 per Chronos Warrant (the "Exercise
Price") and shall vest and become exercisable as to
one-third upon the 10-day weighted average trading price of the
Chronos Shares (the "Market Price") equaling or exceeding
$1.05, an additional one-third upon
the Market Price equaling or exceeding $1.23 and a final one-third upon the Market Price
equaling or exceeding $1.40 (which
Chronos Warrants, upon completion of the Transaction, shall
represent a right to acquire Resulting Issuer Shares, as adjusted
to reflect the Transaction and the Consolidation).
The net proceeds of the Financing will be used to fund the
Resulting Issuer's operations and for working capital and general
corporate purposes. Completion of the Financing is a condition
precedent to the completion of the Acquisition. In the event
Chronos is unable to complete the Financing on satisfactory terms,
Chronos and Samoth will be unable to complete the Acquisition.
Name Change and Consolidation
On August 11, 2022, at an annual
general and special meeting, the shareholders of Samoth approved
the Name Change and the Consolidation.
Contemporaneous with the closing of the Acquisition (subject to
TSXV acceptance), the name of the Resulting Issuer will change from
"Samoth Oilfield Inc." to "Lycos Energy Inc." and the Consolidation
will be completed on the basis of one (1) post-Consolidation
Resulting Issuer Share for every eight (8) pre-Consolidation Samoth
Shares.
No fractional shares will be issued. Any fractional interest in
Resulting Issuer Shares that is less than 0.5 resulting from the
Consolidation will be rounded down to the nearest whole Resulting
Issuer Share and any fractional interest in Resulting Issuer Shares
that is 0.5 or greater will be rounded up to the nearest whole
Resulting Issuer Share.
Chronos and Samoth expect that the trading of the Resulting
Issuer Shares on the TSXV under the name "Lycos Energy Inc." and
symbol "LCX" will commence two or three trading days after the
closing date of the Transaction.
Completion of the Transaction
The resignation of the current board of directors and management
team of Samoth and the appointment of the New Management Team and
the New Board will occur contemporaneous with the closing of
the Acquisition.
Upon completion of the Acquisition, assuming gross proceeds of
the Financing of $65.0 million,
the Resulting Issuer is expected to have a net cash position of
approximately $63.2 million.
The Acquisition and the Financing will not materially affect
control of Samoth and will not result in the creation of a new
"control person", as such term is defined by the policies of the
TSXV. In addition, the Transaction will not result in a "change of
control" of Samoth, as such term is defined by the policies of the
TSXV.
The Acquisition is expected to constitute a "fundamental
acquisition" pursuant to the policies of the TSXV and is subject to
the acceptance of the TSXV.
Sponsorship of the Transaction may be required by the TSXV
unless exempt therefrom in accordance with the TSXV's policies or
unless the TSXV provides a waiver. Samoth has applied for a waiver
from the sponsorship requirements pursuant to the policies of the
TSXV. If the waiver is not granted by the TSXV, then Samoth would
be required to engage a sponsor or will seek an exemption from the
sponsorship requirement.
Samoth is at arm's length to Chronos. The Transaction is not a
related party transaction.
About Samoth
Samoth is an exploration-focused corporation pursuing
opportunities in the natural gas business in the Alberta. As of the date hereof, there are
34,312,055 Samoth Shares issued and outstanding.
About Chronos
Chronos was incorporated in the province of Alberta in 2012. Chronos is an oil-focused,
exploration, development and production company based in
Calgary, Alberta, operating
high-quality, heavy-oil, development assets in the Gull Lake area of southwest Saskatchewan and heavy-oil assets in the
Lloydminster area.
The current directors and officers of Chronos are: Dave Burton (President, Chief Executive Officer
and a Director); Ian Atkinson
(Director); Tyson Birchall (Director); Don Cowie (Director); Kel Johnston; (Director); Lindsay Goos (Vice President, Finance and Chief
Financial Officer); Jamie Conboy (Vice President,
Exploration); Kyle Boon, (Vice President, Operations); and
Jeff Rideout (Vice President,
Land).
As of the date of this press release, there are 31,399,439
Chronos Shares issued and outstanding, which, for greater
certainty, does not include any Chronos Shares or Chronos Warrants
to be issued pursuant to the Financing. Should an aggregate
Financing amount of $65.0 million be
subscribed for, Chronos will have 124,256,582 Chronos Shares
and 17,142,857 Chronos Warrants outstanding.
As a group, as at the date hereof, the directors and senior
officers of Chronos currently own or control (directly or
indirectly) 3,292,771 Chronos Shares, representing approximately
9.54% of the outstanding Chronos Shares.
Financial Information
The table below presents selected financial information for
Chronos (on a consolidated basis).
|
June 30,
2022(1) $000s
|
December 31,
2021(2)
$000s
|
Revenues
|
16,184
|
13,934
|
Expenses
|
(1,070)
|
(520)
|
Net Income
|
15,661
|
14,433
|
Total Assets
|
76,520
|
64,369
|
Total
Liabilities
|
23,119
|
26,629
|
Total Shareholders'
Equity (Deficit)
|
53,401
|
37,740
|
Notes:
|
|
(1)
|
Based on the unaudited
consolidated financial statements for the six-month period ended
June 30, 2022.
|
(2)
|
Based on the audited
financial statements for the year ended December 31,
2021.
|
Advisors
National Bank Financial Inc., DeltaCap Partners Inc. and
Everleaf Capital Corp. are acting as Financial Advisors to Chronos
with respect to the Transaction and the Subscription Receipt
Private Placement.
Chronos will be paying advisory fees to National Bank Financial
Inc., DeltaCap Partners Inc. and Everleaf Capital Corp. in
connection with the Transaction and the Subscription Receipt
Private Placement, as applicable.
Stikeman Elliott LLP is acting as legal counsel to Chronos in
respect of the Acquisition and the Financing and will act as
counsel to the Resulting Issuer upon completion of the
Transaction.
Reader Advisory
The TSX Venture Exchange Inc. has in no way passed upon the
merits of the proposed transaction and has neither approved nor
disapproved the contents of this news release.
This press release is not an offer of the securities for sale in
the United States. The securities
may not be offered or sold in the United
States absent registration or an available exemption from
the registration requirements of the U.S. Securities Act of 1933,
as amended (the "U.S. Securities Act") and applicable U.S. state
securities laws. Samoth will not make any public offering of the
securities in the United States.
The securities have not been and will not be registered under the
U.S. Securities Act.
This press release shall not constitute an offer to sell or the
solicitation of an offer to buy, nor shall there be any sale of
these securities, in any jurisdiction in which such offer,
solicitation or sale would be unlawful.
BOE and Oil Disclosure
The term barrels of oil equivalent ("boe") may be misleading,
particularly if used in isolation. A boe conversion ratio of six
thousand cubic feet per barrel (6 Mcf/bbl) of natural gas to
barrels of oil equivalence is based on an energy equivalency
conversion method primarily applicable at the burner tip and does
not represent a value equivalency at the wellhead. All boe
conversions in the report are derived from converting gas to oil in
the ratio mix of six thousand cubic feet of gas to one barrel of
oil.
Throughout this press release, "crude oil" or "oil" refers to
light, medium and heavy crude oil product types as defined by
National Instrument 51-101 – Standards of Disclosure of Oil and Gas
Activities ("NI 51-101"). References to "NGLs" throughout
this press release comprise pentane, butane, propane, and ethane,
being all NGLs as defined by NI 51-101. References to "natural gas"
throughout this press release refers to conventional natural gas as
defined by NI 51-101.
Reserves Disclosure
All reserves information in this press release was prepared by
Sproule Associates Limited ("Sproule") for Chronos on April 23, 2022, effective December 31, 2021, using Sproule's December 31, 2021 forecast prices and costs in
accordance with NI 51-101 and the most recent publication of the
Canadian Oil and Gas Evaluation Handbook (the "COGE
Handbook").
All reserve references in this press release are "Company gross
reserves". Company gross reserves are Chronos's total working
interest reserves before the deduction of any royalties payable by
Chronos and before the consideration of Chronos's royalty
interests. It should not be assumed that the present worth of
estimated future cash flow of net revenue presented herein
represents the fair market value of the reserves. There is no
assurance that the forecast prices and costs assumptions will be
attained and variances could be material. The recovery and reserve
estimates of Chronos's crude oil, NGLs and natural gas reserves
provided herein are estimates only and there is no guarantee that
the estimated reserves will be recovered.
Actual crude oil, natural gas and NGLs reserves may be greater
than or less than the estimates provided herein.
Drilling Locations
This press release discloses drilling inventory in three
categories: (a) proved locations; (b) probable locations; and (c)
unbooked/potential locations. Proved locations and probable
locations are derived from the reserves evaluation prepared by
Sproule for Chronos in accordance with NI 51-101 and the COGE
Handbook and account for drilling locations that have associated
proved and/or probable reserves, as applicable. Unbooked locations
are internal estimates based on the prospective acreage of the
Assets and an assumption as to the number of wells that can be
drilled per section based on industry practice and internal review.
Unbooked locations do not have attributed reserves or resources. Of
the 70.25 identified net drilling locations identified within
the Assets, 17.9 are net proved locations, 18.89 are net
probable locations and 33.5 are net potential unbooked
locations. Unbooked locations have been identified by management as
an estimation of our multi‐year drilling activities based on
evaluation of applicable geologic, seismic, engineering, production
and reserves information. There is no certainty that the Resulting
Issuer will drill all unbooked drilling locations and if drilled,
there is no certainty that such locations will result in additional
oil and gas reserves, resources or production. The drilling
locations on which the Resulting Issuer actually drills wells will
ultimately depend upon the availability of capital, regulatory
approvals, seasonal restrictions, oil and natural gas prices,
costs, actual drilling results, additional reservoir information
that is obtained and other factors. While certain of the unbooked
drilling locations being de‐risked by drilling existing wells in
relative close proximity to such unbooked drilling locations, other
unbooked drilling locations are farther away from existing wells
where management has less information about the characteristics of
the reservoir, and therefore, there is more uncertainty whether
wells will be drilled in such locations. If these wells are
drilled, there is more uncertainty that such wells will result in
additional oil and gas reserves, resources or production.
Abbreviations
|
|
AECO
|
Alberta Energy
Company's natural gas storage facility located at Suffield,
Alberta
|
bbl
|
barrels of
oil
|
boe
|
barrels of oil
equivalent
|
boe/d
|
barrels of oil
equivalent per day
|
GJ
|
gigajoule
|
Mcf
|
thousand cubic
feet
|
MMboe
|
million barrels of
equivalent
|
MMcf
|
million cubic
feet
|
MMcf/d
|
million cubic feet per
day
|
NGL
|
natural gas
liquids
|
WTI
|
West Texas
Intermediate, the reference price paid in U.S. dollars at Cushing,
Oklahoma for crude oil of standard grade
|
Specified Financial Measures
This press release includes various specified financial
measures, including non-IFRS financial measures, non-IFRS financial
ratios and capital management measures as further described herein.
These measures do not have a standardized meaning prescribed by
International Financial Reporting Standards ("IFRS") and,
therefore, may not be comparable with the calculation of similar
measures by other companies. Operating netback, EBITDA and run rate
net operating income, are not recognized measures under IFRS.
Management believes that in addition to net income (loss), run rate
net operating income, EBITDA and operating netback are useful
supplemental measures that demonstrate Chronos's ability to
generate the cash necessary to repay debt or fund future capital
investment. Chronos considers operating netback as an important
measure to evaluate its operational performance as it demonstrates
its field level profitability relative to current commodity prices.
Chronos considers run rate net operating income as an important
measure to illustrate how Chronos would have performed if the
Acquisition had been consummated at the start of the period.
Investors are cautioned, however, that these measures should not be
construed as an alternative to net income (loss) determined in
accordance with IFRS as an indication of Chronos's performance.
Chronos's method of calculating these measures may differ from
other companies and accordingly, they may not be comparable to
measures used by other companies. Operating netback equals total
petroleum and natural gas sales less royalties and operating
expenses, divided by production on a boe basis. EBITDA (non-IFRS
financial measure) is calculated as consolidated net income (loss)
before interest and financing expenses, income taxes, depletion,
depreciation and amortization, adjusted for certain non-cash,
extraordinary and non-recurring items primarily relating to
unrealized gains and losses on financial instruments and impairment
losses. Chronos considers this metric as key measures that
demonstrate the ability of Chronos 's continuing operations to
generate the cash flow necessary to maintain production at current
levels and fund future growth through capital investment and to
service and repay debt. The most directly comparable IFRS measure
to EBITDA is cash provided by operating activities.
Future Oriented Financial Information
Any financial outlook or future oriented financial information
in this press release, as defined by applicable securities
legislation, including future (but not limited to) operating and
fixed costs (and reductions thereto), general and administrative
costs, revenue and operating income, has been approved by
management of Chronos. Readers are cautioned that any such
future-oriented financial information contained herein should not
be used for purposes other than those for which it is disclosed
herein. Chronos and its management believe that the prospective
financial information has been prepared on a reasonable basis,
reflecting management's best estimates and judgments, and
represent, to the best of management's knowledge and opinion,
Chronos's expected course of action. However, because this
information is highly subjective, it should not be relied on as
necessarily indicative of future activities or results.
Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
Certain information included in this press release constitutes
forward-looking information under applicable securities
legislation. Forward-looking information typically contains
statements with words such as "anticipate", "believe", "expect",
"plan", "intend", "estimate", "propose", "project", "will" or
similar words suggesting future outcomes or statements regarding an
outlook. Forward-looking information in this press release may
include, but is not limited to, statements concerning: timing of
the Transaction; satisfaction or waiver of the closing conditions
in the Agreement; receipt of required legal and regulatory
approvals for the completion of the Transaction (including approval
of the TSXV and the shareholders of Chronos); estimated assumed
liabilities associated with the Assets; expected production and
cash flow related to the Assets; expected number of future drilling
locations related to the Assets; decline rates; the anticipated
closing date of the Financing; the use of proceeds from the
Financing; the completion of the Name Change; the completion of the
Consolidation on the terms described herein; reserve estimates;
future production levels; decline rates; drilling locations; future
negotiation of contracts; future consolidation opportunities and
acquisition targets; the business plan, cost model and strategy of
the Resulting Issuer; future cash flows; and future commodities
prices.
The forward-looking statements contained in this press release
are based on certain key expectations and assumptions made by
Chronos, including expectations and assumptions concerning the
receipt of all approvals and satisfaction of all conditions to the
completion of the Acquisition, Financing, Name Change and
Consolidation, the timing of and success of future drilling,
development and completion activities, the performance of existing
wells, the performance of new wells, the availability and
performance of facilities and pipelines, the geological
characteristics of the Assets, the successful application of
drilling, completion and seismic technology, prevailing weather
conditions, prevailing legislation affecting the oil and gas
industry, commodity prices, royalty regimes and exchange rates, the
application of regulatory and licensing requirements, the
availability of capital, labour and services, the creditworthiness
of industry partners and the ability to source and complete asset
acquisitions.
Although Chronos believes that the expectations and assumptions
on which the forward-looking statements are based are reasonable,
undue reliance should not be placed on the forward-looking
statements because Chronos can give no assurance that they will
prove to be correct. Since forward-looking statements address
future events and conditions, by their very nature they involve
inherent risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ
materially from those currently anticipated due to a number of
factors and risks. These include, but are not limited to, risks
associated with the oil and gas industry in general (e.g.,
operational risks in development, exploration and production; the
uncertainty of reserve estimates; the uncertainty of estimates and
projections relating to production, costs and expenses, and health,
safety and environmental risks), constraint in the availability of
services, commodity price and exchange rate fluctuations, the
current COVID-19 pandemic, actions of OPEC and OPEC+ members,
changes in legislation impacting the oil and gas industry, adverse
weather or break-up conditions and uncertainties resulting from
potential delays or changes in plans with respect to exploration or
development projects or capital expenditures.
Forward-looking information is based on a number of factors and
assumptions which have been used to develop such information but
which may prove to be incorrect. Although Chronos believes that the
expectations reflected in its forward-looking information are
reasonable, undue reliance should not be placed on forward-looking
information because Chronos can give no assurance that such
expectations will prove to be correct. In addition to other factors
and assumptions which may be identified in this press release,
assumptions have been made regarding and are implicit in, among
other things, the timely receipt of any required regulatory
approvals and the satisfaction of all conditions to the completion
of the Acquisition, Financing, Name Change and Consolidation.
Readers are cautioned that the foregoing list is not exhaustive of
all factors and assumptions which have been used.
The forward-looking information contained in this press release
is made as of the date hereof and Chronos undertakes no obligation
to update publicly or revise any forward-looking information,
whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise,
unless required by applicable securities laws. The forward- looking
information contained in this press release is expressly qualified
by this cautionary statement.
All dollar figures included herein are presented in Canadian
dollars, unless otherwise noted.
SOURCE Samoth Oilfield Inc.