Carrizo Oil & Gas Announces 2019 Capital Program and Provides an Update on Fourth Quarter Operations

Carrizo Oil & Gas, Inc. (Nasdaq: CRZO) today announced its initial 2019 capital program and production guidance. The 2019 plan is designed to facilitate long-term, disciplined growth within cash flow in a mid-$50s NYMEX oil price environment. Highlights of the 2019 plan include:

• Targeting 2019 DC&I capital spending of $525-$575 million, a reduction of approximately 35% vs. 2018
• Reducing operated activity to one rig in the Eagle Ford Shale and two to three rigs in the Delaware Basin
• Continuing to test additional zones and multi-layer, cube development in the Delaware Basin
• Forecasting 2019 production of 66,800-67,800 Boe/d, equivalent to annual growth of approximately 11%
• Achieving positive free cash flow in the third quarter of the year
• Providing longer-term momentum by delivering production growth from the fourth quarter of 2018 to the fourth quarter of 2019

S.P. “Chip” Johnson, IV, Carrizo’s President and CEO, commented, “Our 2019 capital plan provides us with a prudent path forward in a $50 to $60 per barrel world. It allows us to continue delivering profitable, double-digit production growth while also achieving a free-cash-flow-positive inflection point in the third quarter of the year and maintaining momentum into 2020. Additionally, our 2019 plan allows us to balance these objectives with the continued testing of additional layers and development concepts in the Delaware Basin, where we have only scratched the surface of our resource potential.

“Our dual-basin portfolio continues to provide us with significant flexibility. Our pivot to the Eagle Ford Shale during 2018 paid off as its exposure to premium, seaborne crude oil markets insulated us from the regional price differential blowouts seen in the Permian Basin. This allowed us to maintain some of the strongest margins in the industry. With price differentials currently improving in the Permian Basin due to the imminent addition of pipeline capacity out of the region, we are planning to begin shifting capital back to the Delaware Basin this year.”

2019 Capital Program and Guidance

For 2019, Carrizo is providing initial drilling, completion, and infrastructure (DC&I) capital expenditure guidance of $525-$575 million. Carrizo currently plans to reduce its rig count in the Eagle Ford Shale from four to one by the end of the first quarter. The Company currently expects to maintain two rigs in the Delaware Basin during the first half of the year, and add a third rig to the play in the second half of the year. Based on this level of activity, the Company expects to drill 75-85 gross (65-75 net) operated wells and complete 95-105 gross (85-95 net) operated wells during the year. Carrizo also expects to participate in several net non-operated wells during the year.