Strong drilling success lifts their output

Article Excerpt

BIRCHCLIFF ENERGY $3.23 (Toronto symbol BIR; TSINetwork Rating: Speculative) (403-261-6401; www. birchcliffenergy.com; Shares outstanding: 263.0 million; Market cap: $829.3 million; Dividend yield: 3.1%) explores for, develops and produces oil and gas, mainly in the Peace River Arch area of both Alberta and B.C. About 80% of its output is gas. The remaining 20% is oil. In July 2016, the company bought Encana Corp.’s Gordondale natural gas fields in B.C. for $612.3 million in cash. The deal was big for Birchcliff: Gordondale expanded its overall production by more than 50%. In the three months ended December 31, 2017, Birchcliff’s cash flow per share jumped 33.3%, to $0.36 from $0.27 a year earlier. The increase came from higher oil prices and higher daily production. Output rose to a record average of 80,103 barrels of oil per day in the latest quarter. That was up 31.9% from 60.750 barrels a year earlier. Birchcliff likely spent about $262 million on exploration and development in 2017. That should increase…