Northern Oil And Gas (NYSE: NOG) reported Q1 EPS of $0.07, $0.05 worse than the analyst estimate of $0.12.

• Production increased 92% over the prior year, averaging 34,598 barrels of oil equivalent (“Boe”) per day; strong well performance driving an increase in 2019 production guidance with no change to capital spending guidance.
• Drilling and development capital expenditures totaled $74.0 million, a 5% reduction versus the prior quarter.
• Cash flow from operations, excluding an $11.4 million net increase from changes in working capital, was $87.5 million.
• Northern spent $15.1 million on share repurchases in the quarter and $8.4 million on ground game acquisitions.

“Northern’s assets across the Williston Basin showed continued strong performance during the quarter, with recent wells added to production outperforming our expectations. As a result, we are raising our production forecast for the full year,” commented Brandon Elliott, Chief Executive Officer. “We believe a balance of production growth and cash flow generation is sustainable as we continue to lever our non-operator model to maximize returns.”

“Increased production and cash flows combined with our pending Flywheel acquisition should continue to improve our financial results as 2019 progresses. Our near-term goals remain simple: continued growth of free cash flow, reduction of our debt obligations, and growth of debt-adjusted cash flow per share. We will pursue these goals while staying focused on Northern’s core objective of generating abundant, sustainable free cash flow to deliver returns to our shareholders regardless of commodity prices.”

2019 Production Guidance Up, Capital Unchanged

Current Williston Basin activity levels continue to support the company’s 2019 plan to add between 28 and 32 net wells to production during the year. As production curtailments and weather-related delays begin to abate, Northern expects second quarter production to average between 34,500 and 35,500 Boe per day and to grow sequentially in the second half of 2019. As a result of improved well performance to date, Northern now expects production (excluding the recently announced Flywheel acquisition) to average between 35,000 and 36,000 Boe per day for the full year of 2019, a 500 Boe per day increase compared to prior guidance. Northern intends to update second half 2019 production guidance, to incorporate the Flywheel acquisition, in connection with the release of its second quarter results. Northern’s previous cost and capital spending plan remains unchanged.

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