Energy Valuation Insights

A weekly update on issues important to the oil and gas industry

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Valuation Issues


Accounting for Risk in Oil and Gas Reserve Valuations

Reserve Adjustment Factors and Risk-Adjusted Discount Rates

One of the most complex aspects of oil and gas valuation is accounting for the risk associated with PDNP reserves, PUD reserves, and the less certain probables and possibles (P2 and P3 Reserves). Generally, there are three ways to account for this additional risk: (1) Using a risk-adjusted discount rate, (2) applying a reserve adjustment factor (RAF), or (3) utilizing a modified option pricing model.

Non-Operated Working Interests: Are You Investing in the Operator, the Oilfield, or Both?

Joint Ventures in Oil and Gas

Executing a successful joint venture requires a number of items working in harmony such as solid due diligence, good location, cooperation between both firms, and a degree of luck on the bet they are making.

It seems a bit contradictory that a large amount of projects are structured as joint ventures if they have such a high failure rate. This begs the question, does the success of the JV hinge on the quality of the oilfield or the technical ability of the operator? The answer, we think, lies somewhere in the middle.

How to Interpret Breakeven Prices

Before mid-2014, few investors took notice of efficiency-oriented metrics, instead focusing on stories of new oil discoveries and the development of new wells and new technologies.  Since the crash in oil prices, a new measure of success was brought to the forefront:  breakeven prices.

As more companies present this metric and more investors rely on it as an indication of performance, it becomes increasingly important to understand what it actually measures, and if breakeven prices can be compared consistently from company to company.

Oilfield Service Valuations

Missing The Party Or Just Fashionably Late?

Higher oil prices, coupled with lower breakeven costs for producers, are making drillers, completers and a host of other servicers busier than a gopher on a golf course. Does that translate into higher valuations?

Eagle Ford Q1 2018

Lower Breakevens Yet Some Plan Fewer Wells

The economics of the Eagle Ford Shale have been steadily improving for the past year.  While the Permian has been receiving the most attention given its low-cost economics and large well potential, the Eagle Ford (particularly its oil window) has increased well production whilst dropping its costs.  However, based on recent announcements, many companies will be reducing the number of wells drilled in 2018 as compared to 2017.

How to Value an Oil and Gas Refinery

A thorough understanding of the role of refineries in the oil and gas industry is important in establishing a credible value for a business operating in the refining space. In addition, it is critical to understand the subject company’s position in the market, its operations, and its financial condition. In this post, we walk through industry factors, three valuation approaches, and the importance of synthesizing these factors in order glean a holistic understanding of a company’s value.

Special Topics

What Is a Reserve Report? (Part II)

This is the second of multiple posts discussing the most important information contained in a reserve report, the assumptions used to create it, and what factors should be changed to arrive at Fair Value or Fair Market Value.

In this post, we discuss two of the most important inputs that go into every reserve report: production and pricing and why it may be appropriate to make adjustments to these inputs for purposes of Fair Value or Fair Market Value.

Valuing Oil & Gas Reserves (Part II)

Don Erickson, Managing Director of Mercer Capital, educates the public on valuation methodologies and trends impacting various industries. One such industry is Oil & Gas. In the second part of this two-part slide deck, he discusses the basics of how to value oil & gas reserves.

Valuing Oil & Gas Reserves (Part I)

Don Erickson, Managing Director of Mercer Capital, educates the public on valuation methodologies and trends impacting various industries. One such industry is Oil & Gas. In this slide deck, he discusses the main drivers impacting the oil and gas pricing environment over the previous decade and the implications to valuing reserves.

The Oilfield Services Industry Is Still Struggling and What This Means to Valuation

Lately, talk of the domestic oil and gas market has been especially positive. But the oilfield services industry is still struggling to recover from the collapse of oil prices in mid-2014 and the subsequent reduction in capital spending by upstream companies. We look at how the downturn in crude prices in 2014 still affects the oilfield service industry and consider the impact on company valuations.

Special Topics

What Is a Reserve Report?

A reserve report is a fascinating disclosure of information. This is, in part, because the disclosures reveal the strategies and financial confidence an E&P company believes about itself in the near future. Strategies include capital budgeting decisions, future investment decisions, and cash flow expectations. This is the first of multiple posts discussing the most important information contained in a reserve report, the assumptions used to create it, and what factors should be changed to arrive at Fair Value or Fair Market Value.

Special Topics

Held (or Held Up?) by Production

Depending on which side of an oil and gas negotiation one is on, Held By Production (HBP) provisions can be a favorable, or unfavorable, value contributor. We discuss the concept and provide helpful information for mineral owners to consider.

How to Value your Exploration and Production Company

We recently published a white paper explaining how to value an E&P company. The purpose of the paper is to provide an informative overview regarding the valuation of exploration and production (E&P) companies operating in the oil and gas industry.

Special Topics

How to Use Reserve Reports When Determining Fair Market Value

Last week, we analyzed the SEC’s $6.2 million settlement with a Big 4 audit firm relating to auditing failures associated with Miller Energy Resources, an oil and gas company with activities in the Appalachian region of Tennessee and in Alaska. The SEC order determines that the Big 4 audit firm did not properly use the reserve reports conclusion of PV-10 (present value at 10%).  This post considers the proper use of reserve reports and risk adjustment factors when determining fair market value.

Special Topics

$475 Million Bargain Purchase Leads to a SEC Settlement

Originally published on Mercer Capital’s Financial Reporting Blog, Lucas Parris analyzed the SEC’s $6.2 million settlement with a Big 4 audit firm relating to auditing failures associated with Miller Energy Resources, an oil and gas company with activities in the Appalachian region of Tennessee and in Alaska.

How to Value Proven Undeveloped Reserves (PUDs)

One of the primary challenges for industry participants when valuing and pricing oil and gas reserves is addressing proven undeveloped reserves (PUDs) and unproven reserves. While the market approach can sometimes be used to understand the value of PUDs and unproven reserves, every transaction is unique. Additionally, many transactions that we see today are still a result of the crash in oil prices in 2014; and in some sales of non-core assets, PUDs and unproven reserves have been deemed worthless. Why then, and under what circumstances, might the PUDs and unproven reserves have significant value?

Special Topics

The Fair Market Value of Oil and Gas Reserves

In case you missed it, this week are rerunning a consistently popular post.

Oil and gas assets represent the majority of value of an E&P company. The Oil and Gas Financial Journal describes reserves as “a measurable value of a company’s worth and a basic measure of its life span.” Thus, understanding the fair market value of a company’s PDP, PDNP, and PUDs is key to understanding the fair market value of the Company.

How to Value an Oil and Gas Refinery

A thorough understanding of the role of refineries in the oil and gas industry is important in establishing a credible value for a business operating in the refining space. In addition, it is critical to understand the subject company’s position in the market, its operations, and its financial condition. In this post, we walk through industry factors, three valuation approaches, and the importance of synthesizing these factors in order glean a holistic understanding of a company’s value.

How to Use an EV/Production Multiple

Oil and gas analysts use many different metrics to explain and compare the value of an oil and gas company, specifically an exploration and production (E&P) company. The most popular metrics (at least according to our eyeballs) include (1) EV/Production; (2) EV/Reserves; (3) EV/Acreage; and (4) EV/EBITDA(X). Enterprise Value (EV) may also be termed Market Value of Invested Capital (MVIC) and is calculated by the market capitalization of a public company plus debt on the balance sheet less cash on the balance sheet. In this post, we will dive into one of these four metrics, the EV/Production metric, and explore the most popular uses of it.

Special Topics

E&P: What We Learned from 1st Quarter Earnings

The first quarter of 2017 was productive and active for upstream E&P but the change in market capitalizations of many oil and gas companies does not match the reported increase in earnings and production estimates. Looking at our universe of energy companies in the E&P space, over 70% beat earnings estimates. This statistic held true no matter if the energy company was a global integrated operator or a pure upstream producer. To provide a flavor of the attitude, we selected the two largest publicly traded energy companies involved in E&P (STO and XOM) as well as six companies with primary operations in the Permian Basin (PXD, CXO, NBL, XEC, FANG, and RSPP) and reviewed the highlights of their latest earnings releases. As summarized in this post, each of these companies exceeded analyst expectations.

Oil & Gas

Mercer Capital provides oil and gas companies, oil and gas servicers, and mineral & royalty owners with corporate valuation, asset valuation, litigation support, transaction advisory, and related services