Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. Welcome to Petrus Resources third quarter 2026 results call. At this time, all participants are on a listen-only mode. After the speaker's presentation, there will be a question-and-answer session. To ask a question during the session, you would need to press star one one on your telephone, and you will then hear an automated message advising your hand is raised. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Please be advised that today's conference is being recorded. I would like now to turn the conference over to Ken Gray, Chief Executive Officer. Please go ahead.
Good morning, and thanks for joining us on this conference call to discuss Petrus Resources 2026 Q3 results and what's coming up. I'm Ken Gray, CEO of Petrus, and I'm joined by our executive team of Matt Skanderup, COO, Mathew Wong, CFO, and Lindsay Hatcher, VP Commercial and Corporate Development. I'd just like to say that this is a great team we have here at Petrus, both the people joining me here, as well as the rest of the staff in the office and the employees and contractors that keep everything running smoothly and safely out in the field. Q3 was another strong quarter for the company as we continue to build on what we achieved in the first half of the year. September production was up 36% from January, and average production for the quarter reached a record 12,152 BOE per day.
Of note was oil production averaging 2,007 barrels per day for the quarter, which is up 32% from a year ago. Operating netback was up 96% from Q3 2025 to CAD 22.9 million for the quarter, reflecting both increased production and stronger pricing. Funds flow was up 26% to CAD 16.3 million. Hedging has dampened the bottom line increase to funds flow for now, but we'll see the spectacular operating results trickle down to the bottom line in subsequent quarters. The Harmattan acquisition that we made back in February saw a full quarter of production in Q3, which contributed to the production growth, and we drilled our first two Cardium oil wells there, which came on production midway through the quarter. Since the end of the quarter, we have brought on the joint venture Glock wells.
Early results are very strong, and the wells are being choked as existing infrastructure is not built to handle these peak rates. These wells mark the third zone in Ferrier that we have drilled in the last year or so, which highlights the multi-zone potential Petrus has in the area. There's more to come. We're planning to fire up the rig in December, accelerating our planned drilling to target some oil locations in both Ferrier and Harmattan. With that, I'll end. Thank you for your interest, and we'll now be happy to answer any questions.
Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star one one on your telephone and wait for your name to be announced. To withdraw your question, please press star one one again. Our first question is going to come from Richard Toparsky with ATC. Your line is now open.
Hi. Thanks for taking the questions. I have several questions. I am just wondering, the production increased, but the funds flow didn't. Is the lower operating netback from Q2 to Q3 temporary?
Yeah. Thanks for the question, Richard. Like I noted there, funds flow is up a bit, but not up as much as production and the operating results. The hedging that we have in place has kind of dampened those results. That is why on the bottom line, funds flow and corporate netback, you are not seeing quite the gain that you might otherwise. We have kind of highlighted the operating results there just to let people know what some of the operations that we have done, the increased production, et cetera, has meant for the company. Those results will be reflected more in subsequent quarters as the hedging sort of moves to reflect more current pricing.
Okay. Are you still able to hear me? I have another question or two.
Yeah, go ahead.
Okay. As far as the debt goes, the company's net debt increased from CAD 62.5 million at the end of 2025 to CAD 88 million in Q3. How much of the company's future value comes from the Harmattan acquisition? I would like to know whether the acquisition is actually generating an attractive return on the money needed to finance it.
I think the acquisition is generating a pretty good return. It was an oilier acquisition, and obviously the timing couldn't have been much better with oil prices kind of jumping up almost the day after we made the acquisition. We are quite happy with the acquisition. On the debt side of things, we used debt as part of the financing for the acquisition, so that's the biggest part of that increase in debt. That's just how we thought was the best way to finance this thing. It is adding to the company, to the value of the company. Mathew, do you have something you want to say?
Yeah, I just wanted to add that we expect that by the end of Q4 this year, the net debt would decrease from that level of Q3.
Okay.
As revenue-
Yeah, and I've only got two more questions, and that was the next one. Is it realistic to get it down to the CAD 75 million to CAD 80 million by the end of the year? And if so, how do you expect to meet that goal by year end?
We do expect that to go to within that level between approximately CAD 80 million or so by the end of the quarter, by the end of the year. It's mainly from the cash we generated from operations. And we do expect that the remaining capital to be spent in Q4 will be much lower than was in Q3. Q3 was a big quarter for internal capital spend, and it will quite not benefit in Q4.
Okay. Last question I have is whether the December drilling program will require additional borrowing, or will you do it out of the cash flow?
We do expect that in Q4, our funds flow is significantly higher than our capital spending. That is why we are paying down debt in Q4.
Okay. Well, thank you. That answers all my questions.
Thanks, Richard.
Thank you. As a reminder, to ask a question, please press star 11 on your telephone. I am showing no further questions in the queue. This will conclude today's conference call, and thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.