NuVista Energy Ltd. Announces Operational Update and Reaffirms 2017 and 2018 Guidance

CALGARY, Alberta, Jan. 16, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- NuVista Energy Ltd. (“NuVista” or the “Company”) (TSX:NVA) is pleased to announce a number of updates that demonstrate successful execution of our 2017 plans and strong progress towards our 2018 plans and beyond.  Our 2017 full year and fourth quarter guidance expectations have been met, and results continue to improve.  Specific highlights include the following:

Production Update

Field-estimated production for the fourth quarter of 2017 was approximately 37,400 Boe/d, near the top of the previously guided range of 35,000 – 38,000 Boe/d.  Our 2017 full year production estimate is approximately 29,700 Boe/d versus previous guidance of 28,000 – 31,000 Boe/d.  Both of our Bilbo and Elmworth compression and dehydration facilities have now reached nameplate capacity of 18,000+ and 16,000 Boe/d respectively, and debottlenecking to increase capacity continues, with Elmworth reaching similar levels of production as Bilbo.

Operations Update

Bilbo

The most recent six well pad at Bilbo has now reached IP30 with very favorable results. The wells achieved an average of 794 Bbl/d of condensate per well with 3.3 MMcf/d of raw gas production per well and a condensate-gas-ratio (CGR) of 238 Bbls/MMcf. Four of the wells are producing from the Middle Montney ‘B’ zone and two from the Middle Montney ‘C’ zone. Three of the wells were stimulated with High Intensity Fractures (“Hi-Fi”) and three were regular intensity. It is too early to determine significant performance differences between the wells, but we are pleased to see wells in both zones demonstrating fairly similar initial performance and no significant underperforming outliers in the group. As shown with the data, this pad is demonstrating similar condensate production and significantly higher condensate gas ratio (“CGR”) than the average of all prior Bilbo wells despite their horizontal length averaging 1,470 m which is less than the historical Bilbo average length of approximately 2,000 m.

Elmworth

Three more regular intensity fractured wells at Elmworth have now reached IP30 with continued strong results.  The wells achieved an average of 473 Bbls/day of condensate per well with 7.6 MMcf/d of raw gas production per well and a CGR of 63 Bbls/MMcf.  This compares favorably to the previous Elmworth all-well average results and when compared to previously released HiFi results in Elmworth, further strengthens our expectation that HiFi wells will continue to improve our results and economics.  We have made the use of HiFi completions our new base standard for 2018.