Virtual investor conference. Just waiting for the room to fill in a little bit here. But hopefully, you've found it to be a informative day and a half, and hopefully we've got another useful half hour for you coming up right now. I'm pretty sure we do. We're joined by Riley Exploration Permian. The ticker is REPX. We're joined by Richard D'Angelo, and I don't want to take up any of his time. So with that, let me turn it over to Richard.
Thank you, Steve, and good afternoon, and thank you all for your interest in Riley Exploration Permian. My name is Rick D'Angelo, and I am the investor relations representative for Riley. On page two, please note the forward-looking statements and non-GAAP information disclosures for SEC compliance. Moving to page three, especially for those new to the company, an overview and strategy. Riley Exploration Permian is a growth-oriented oil and gas company with operations in the Permian Basin. Riley Exploration Permian applies its expertise in modern horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracture stimulation techniques to develop conventional or traditional reservoir rocks, that is, carbonate and clastic lithologies, as opposed to shale lithologies.
In this presentation, I'll discuss how and why we think this strategy and business plan compares favorably to typical shale drilling, and from it, how Riley has a proven track record of growth in production volumes and growth in free cash flow, while improving capital efficiency and while returning significant value to shareholders, which are the key themes. On the right side of this slide, some select current company statistics and metrics, about 58,000 net acres in the Permian Basin. I'll show you the map of the Northwest Shelf where their operations are located. Second quarter production averaged 21.3 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day. About 69% of that by volume was crude oil, or 14.7 of oil per day, roughly. Market cap, $550 million. Enterprise value, $870 million.
A 5.7% dividend yield that's been paid for their, you know, total life as quarterly as a public company since the beginning of 2021, when they went public, and, also prior to that, when they were a private business. So this is a, this is a focus and a priority of the company to return that value to shareholders. Insider ownership, and to be clear on that, 22% is, original private equity backer, Yorktown, and, 3% is for, held by management and the board. The asset base is shown on this slide. Location map on the left-hand side. The, the, green areas in Yoakum County, Texas, and Eddy County, New Mexico, are their operating areas. They are both located on the Northwest Shelf, a long strike, similar depositional environment.
250 million years ago, this was relatively shallow water compared to the Delaware Basin and Midland Basin, the deeper environments there, where the shales are deposited and drilled. The rock properties, therefore, are much different in Riley's operating area. These rocks, which are carbonate and sands, are higher porosity and permeability inherently. Then, you know, shales are much finer grain sediment. They're tighter and they're harder rocks, basically. The well depth is shallower than the shales, ranging from 3,500- 5,500 feet vertical depth, where Riley is drilling on the shelf, versus the Wolfcamp can get down to 9,000-10,000 feet deep in the middle of the basin. So being shallower, they're less expensive to drill.
Being inherently higher porosity and permeability, the intensity of the fracture stimulation is not as great as what is required in shale, and that amounts to a 20%-40% less expensive well cost, you know, on the order of roughly $5 million-$5.5 million versus $7 million-$9 million, roughly, for shales. And it's generalizations on average. But that lower cost capital expenditure to drill these wells results in the same- roughly the same amount of cumulative oil production over the first 5 years. Although shales will start at relative, you know, a higher relative rate of initial production, they will decline faster in general than the wells that Riley's drilling.
Riley's wells start a little bit less intense than the shale wells, but they decline much less quickly, so the area under those two curves are the same over 5 years. The amount of capital required to create growth in that production profile is much less for Riley. For Riley's business plan, there's less capital intensity of growing the production volumes, and that's key. Key to this track record of growth, which is a target of 5%-10% production volume growth per year from drilling their own wells, from organic growth. That excludes M&A activity. Cash flow from operations from 2021 through the last 12 months, second quarter of 2024, has continued to grow, as you can see on the left side, and free cash flow has continued to grow....
point out that free cash flow growth has been accelerating recently. In the last 12 months, that's a growth of about 80%. Shareholders' equity is also growing. Priorities for Riley is this organic production development and growth of production volumes, again, at a rate of targeted 5%-10% per year. For full year 2024, we expect to be on the high end of that production volume growth. In addition, opportunistic acquisitions. Last year, second quarter, we added the New Mexico assets, and we tacked on some more property around those New Mexico assets, earlier this year. And then there are the complementary investments in new ventures that you know, enhance our operating efficiency, and I'll talk about our thermal power generation JV in the Permian Basin, in the next couple slides.
Shareholder returns, you know, immediate returns, not just from production volume growth with time, but through a dividend that yields currently about 5.7%. Again, we've been paying that for 14 quarters as a public company, and we've been growing that annually. Target to grow that annually 5%-10% per year, subject to board approval. And also debt paydown. Our debt peaked with the big New Mexico acquisition last year at about $395 million in the second quarter of 2023. At the second quarter of this year, we reported $320 million, so down about 19% or $75 million in the last twelve months, and that included down $35 million in the first half of this year, which we see that continuing throughout the year.
Liquidity management also, so that we can react to opportunities opportunistically. Our borrowing base is $375 million, which about, with about $160 million currently drawn, so we have a $250 million of dry powder there available. All this comes to this major theme that I'd like to emphasize, is this capital efficiency improvement. Riley's capital efficiency is measured by the reinvestment of cash flow from operations for drilling capital to organically grow production volumes. The bars here represent, you know, 100% of the cash flow from operations for the twelve months ended 9/30/2020 and 2021, and for the calendar years 2022, 2023, and then the first half of 2024 in the five bars.
Back in 2020 and 2021, the light green area, the 79% and 73%, represent the percentage of cash flow from operations before working capital adjustments that we used to reinvest in our drilling program to organically grow production volumes at our target of 5%-10% per year. We've been able to reduce that use of capital, or, use of cash flow, to 47% of cash flow from operations in the first half of 2024, to continue to grow our production volumes organically, again, at that 5%-10% goal per year. That means, as shown by the dark green part of the bars, the free cash flow, which is the def...
By our definition, cash flow from operations before changes in working capital, minus the E&P CapEx, cash CapEx, that free cash flow has grown as a percentage of our internal cash flow from operations from just over 20% in 2020 to over 50% in the first half of 2024. That's what we mean by improving capital efficiency, using less of our cash flow from operations to grow the top-line production volumes organically, allowing us to have more free cash flow to use to pay dividends, returning value to shareholders immediately, reducing debt, re- again, returning value to shareholders immediately, and for opportunistic M&A.
You ask yourself as an investor, "So, you know, can this continue for Riley, and what is their operating sensitivities to changes in WTI prices?" And of course, management looks at that thoroughly before proposing budgets to the board for ensuing years. Part of that analysis is represented in this slide, where we're looking at WTI prices per barrel from $60-$90 at $10 increments, and the associated cash flow that will be generated, free excess cash flow in the light gray, after paying off the dividend in green, and the annual paydown of our senior notes, which is $5 million, scheduled as $5 million per quarter or $20 million for the year.
So the coverage of, you know, paying the dividend, servicing the debt, there's a big cushion, even at $60 WTI. There's a lot of flexibility in the operations because of the high margin and because of the hedges that management has put in to assure certain levels of cash flow from operations generation in order to be able to grow their production volumes. Free cash flow yield looks like we're in the low 20s% at a $70-$80 WTI price for the rest of 2024. I point out that measure because that's much higher than the E&P sector in general, indicating that, you know, that can be awarded by the market and should be awarded by the market.
Opportunistic M&A and other investments in our free cash flow. I wanted to explain our power generation initiatives. The natural gas pricing situation in the Permian Basin, everyone knows, is weak. The pipeline takeaway capacity is underserved there. Our gas price is off the Waha Index, which is at a discount differential to Henry Hub. We have expenses for processing our gas. So it's not a highly valued product, you know, it's a by-product, really, of the oil generation, which is the primary value creator for our business.
Rather than flare or continue to sell at low prices, we have entered into an equity method accounting JV with Conduit to develop our own internally used electricity generation in the Permian Basin, which, for the second quarter, provided about 50% of our electricity needs in our Texas operations, and that should go up to about close to 100% this quarter in Texas. This allows us to do things like, you know, reduce diesel fuel services or generation in our drilling rigs. Instead, we can use electric rigs and save money on the diesel fuel and trucking of the diesel fuel. Electric actuators can be used, which are more efficient and more reliable than pneumatic ones.
The whole electrification of the oil field is ensuing, and we are generating our own electricity to improve our operating costs and our efficiencies in our operations. In addition, the second phase of this joint venture is to build battery-powered backup systems that we can then use the excess electricity that we generate to sell into the ERCOT system when their supply, for example, from their wind power generation or their solar power generation goes down, and they have to pull out of the market, they can buy from us at what we think will be good prices and a very profitable part of the business for the JV. A little bit more on the power generation initiatives.
You know, the greatest advantage is improvement in our efficiencies and lowering our costs, but it also improves the reliability of powering our Texas operations. Well, we were serviced by a co-op in that area, which would have outages, and outages would sometimes cause failures of our submersible pumps, and replacing pumps is an expensive, you know, workover event that we now minimize that risk, and we also stabilize our production of oil with less downtime or no downtime from lost power. We have 20 MW as of the second quarter of installed capacity, and that will be going up to 50 MW, and then we will add the 50 MW of battery power next year to sell into the grid.
So we're very excited about this JV, and again, it's equity method accounting for us. Just a couple highlights on our second quarter results. We grew production volumes 4% quarter-over-quarter. Again, 21.3 thousand barrels of oil equivalent per day, 14.7 thousand barrels of oil per day. The annual growth organically, we expect to be about 11% or 10%, so the high end of our objectives. You know, our EBITDA margin, I point out, at 71% is very high for the sector. Again, that goes to our improvements in operating costs, and our reinvestment rate again was 37% for the second quarter of cash flow from operations. Extremely low, you know, relative to that over 60, 70% several years ago.
You know, and that's also partially from the enhancements to our drilling program. We have had better results from our wells. Production rates are exceeding our expectations this year, but we've also been able to reduce costs by roughly 20% year-over-year from a variety of operating improvements, which includes things like zipper fracs, where you're fracture stimulating two parallel wells at the same time to be more efficient. Where we're doing things like pad drilling, and you know, we're using the same well site to drill more than one well, rather than having to mobilize and demobilize rigs and move them onto a new well site. So we continue to add these improvements, which reduce our capital costs.
There are overriding macro improvements in service sector costs, and, you know, steel prices are down, rolled steel. So we are benefiting from both our internal efficiency improvements, continuously improving our operations, as well as the macro environment. And that all has resulted in converting 66% of cash flow from operations to free cash flow, which is, you know, which really is something that we're very proud of, which has been our focus for a year now, to become really a free cash flow generating machine, and that's where we can really add value to shareholders by continuing to pay this dividend and paying down debt, and continuing to enhance our operations with opportunistic M&A activity.
The free cash flow yield, again, 23% is best in, highest in class, which means, you know, we really are being undervalued. Shareholder return, we're allocating 20% of free cash flow through our dividend payment, which has a 5%, 5.7% annualized yield. Debt reduction, locked in $20 million a year, $5 million per quarter. We achieved $75 million of debt reduction over the last 12 months. Closed the asset acquisition in the second quarter, about an $18 million tack on in New Mexico, and expanded our power JV. The drivers of the quarter-over-quarter growth, volumes were up. As I mentioned, price realizations were up slightly.
You know, the only thing that was down a little bit was we chose to pay an estimated income tax higher than we did in the first quarter, so our cash flow from operations were a little bit down quarter-over-quarter. But on the right-hand side, because of this lower CapEx spending, and again, to still achieve the same improvement and growth in production volumes, we've increased our free cash flow from $23 million in the first quarter to $38 million in the second quarter. Okay, so this... I wanna point out that our guidance for the rest of the year in 2024 has changed a little bit, and it's again, on this capital efficiency theme.
We're gonna drill about the same number of wells, 24, 20-26, as we indicated at the beginning of the year. But instead of spending $120 million or so, we're gonna spend $100 million-$110 million. So again, our capital spending is decreasing. Our production volume growth's at the high end of targets. And also on the right-hand side, we've kept our guidance about the same for our operating expenses, but you know, we are also achieving on the low end of those expectations as well, with a high EBITDA margin. And the forecasted sources and uses slide, again, just to show you sensitivities to the oil price expectations. On the left-hand side, those are all the green part of this stacked bar chart.
So at roughly this free cash flow level of about 130 or so at $60 WTI, if we have $70 or $80 or $90 WTI, we layer on another $10 million or $12 million of free cash flow. And all of that, or some of that, can be used to pay down debt, which is the blue bar on the right-hand side. So we have a lot of flexibility and opportunity to continue to pay down debt, while at the same time using these sources of capital for the dividend, which is about $31 million a year, the power JV and the tack-on acquisition of $18 million.
Pointing out our hedging program, which I mentioned, is designed to not only meet our covenants for our debt instruments, but also to assure ourselves the right amount of cash flow from operations to achieve our production volume growth by reinvesting in organic drilling, and also to pay our dividend and pay down our debt. If you look at the left side, where WTI NYMEX is actually backwar dated, it's decreasing price going forward. So we've used more collars out 18 months to cover, with the swaps, about 53% of our oil production, with floors of 68 and ceiling of 77 on average. As we get closer to those time periods, we'll add more swaps.
And the situation's a little bit different for the Henry Hub outlook, where it's in contango, prices are rising over time, so we've used more swaps out in 18 months in the future. And again, we're covering about 50% of our natural gas expected production. We're in the $3.45-$3.92 range with these swaps and collars. I mean, the details here are shown in our summary positions. You can look at that, if you'd like. Equity ownership, Yorktown is originally one of the private equity backers. They still own 22% of the company. Bluescape, another private equity backer, owns 21%, and I point out, management and directors own 3%.
So our estimated public float is about 44% on our roughly 21.5 million total shares outstanding, and our research coverage is on the right. Then, a summary of our debt. You know, our bank borrowing base, $375 million. We only have $160 million drawn, so, a good $250 million of dry powder there. And the senior secured notes, face value of $175 million. We're paying that down, again, $5 million per quarter. If you have any questions or would like to follow up with myself or management, please contact us. Happy to... Always happy to talk to investors, and, if there's time, we can open up to Q&A.
... Absolutely, Richard. Actually, we have a few questions. I didn't even tell people how to ask questions. I think they all know by now, 'cause we have quite a few questions in the queue. But as a reminder to everyone with about five minutes to go, press the Q&A button at the bottom of your screen and type them in, and we'll get to as many as we can. Richard, you talked about how much debt reduction the company has completed over the last year since the New Mexico acquisition, including $20 million this year. Do you have a targeted leverage ratio? And it would seem like you gotta be approaching it or there already.
Yeah, you know, we don't have, you know, like, a formal target of leverage. We're about 1.2 time debt-
Oh
... the last 12-month EBITDA and 37% debt to total enterprise value, which we don't feel is over-levered. But as long as-
No
... we have excess free cash flow, you know, our objectives are to create value, return value to shareholders by paying down the debt and, you know, increasing our liquidity.
Okay. How do you think about the dividend yield of almost 6%? Where does WTI price need to safely be to protect that dividend? Obviously, with the hedges, it's well protected and where prices are now. Where does it need to be over the long term to protect the current yield? The current dividend, sorry.
I mean, we have, we have a lot of flexibility in our full-cycle cost structure-
Yeah
... and, you know, in our, you know, cash operating cost structure for decreases in WTI prices below $60 or $50 for sure. And with 50% of our production volumes, both oil and gas, hedged, you know, at $68, roughly, dollar floors and $3.50 or so gas, the, you know, the spot prices can be quite a bit lower. And, you know, you saw our cushion of free cash flow.
Yeah.
We look at this every year, and we make sure we're hedging that, those floors and that ability to service those obligations. We don't think there's risk, that much risk, you know what I mean?
Yeah. How is the significant operator consolidation over the last year impacting your strategy, from an M&A perspective?
Couple of ways. I mean, obviously we see... When the big guys put together big M&A packages, when they start taking each other out, some of the first things they do is reduce costs by pulling rigs down.
Yeah.
You know, just consolidating activity. So I think it's the number something like 100 rigs or so have been taken out of service, this year to date. So those might not be the same rigs that we use, but it does take general pressure off of service side costs. We are seeing a softening in the market for pricing. We do have a lot of flexibility. In addition, when they consolidate, they are looking for, you know, peeling off some of their non-core areas.
Right.
There's a lot of opportunities, M&A, where packages that will be just right for us can become available.
Is the focus to add contiguous acreage, you know, the popularity of longer laterals, and you mentioned your own pad drilling program. Are you where you need to be in terms of contiguous acreage, that the focus can be buying assets anyway, where in that basin?
You know, that was part of the motivation of the $18 million tack on of acreage in New Mexico-
Yeah
... earlier this year. That, that was contiguous to our position there that we acquired last year, and that did give us the ability, and we mentioned the number of undrilled locations. It gave us the ability to put some more laterals in there and to increase their length, you know, and to do these zipper fracs and pad drilling. All of that stuff does matter. It's not the exclusive driver. Of course, you know, we're looking for acquisitions that are non-accretive. And, and of course, they, they have to pass our, our first and foremost criteria, the G&G has to be right.
Right.
Geology and geophysics.
You talked a little bit about, very interesting, with the power JV. How close are you to a point where, in the case of the need, that you could resell to the grid?
Well, you know, we're planning on the battery installation part of the JV to begin next year. I don't know what the timing will be exactly, but I can just say in general terms, in 2025.
Fair enough. Do you think there'll be a lot of copycats out there? It's certainly an innovative program.
Oh, oh, I think it's already happening. I think-
Yeah
... Yeah, I think it's already happening.
Okay. Any outlook for the next 12-18 months? There's clearly more... You have the new natural gas pipeline coming in. There's obviously more processing capacity coming into the Permian. Does that give you any kind of a more positive outlook on maybe pricing you can get from natural gas and with the other LNG export capacity? Or is that just a side piece for you, and, and the focus remains on, on WTI and, and oil production?
Well, we don't build in that type of sort of optimistic assumption in-
Right
... our projections and planning and, and use of capital. That probably wouldn't be prudent.
Yeah.
You know, but you know, personally, you look at the strip, and the strip's going up.
Yeah.
That kind of tells me there's a lot of market forces and intellect involved in that outlook. But that is Henry Hub and not Waha.
Right, that's true. Just about out of time, Richard. Covered a lot of ground. Any closing comments before we wrap this up?
You know, I just wanna emphasize that, that Riley is, you know, generating a lot of free cash flow.
Yeah.
That's growing. There is a high free cash flow yield in this business. There's a fundamental profitability here, a level that exceeds peers, and in my opinion, and it's all comes down to having good assets, and very good operations skill set that has been managed with financial discipline. Those are the criteria, and that's what makes this, you know, a great company.
Absolutely. I hope everyone found this to be an informative half hour. I certainly did. This is Richard D'Angelo from Riley Permian. Thanks so much for being here. Thanks, Richard, for your time today, and hope everyone enjoys the remainder of Sidoti's conference. Thanks.
Thanks, Steve. Bye.