Government & Regulatory | General News

Contango: Leasing Suspension Will Have 'No Impact' on Ops

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   |    Tuesday,January 26,2021

Contango Oil & Gas Co. provided commentary on the US Department of Interior's 60-day suspension of authority for federal permitting, leasing, or other fossil fuel authorizations.

• Temporary suspension of approvals expected to have no impact on legacy Contango production or production acquired through Mid-Con Energy Partners and Silvertip transactions

• Pine Tree growth project acquired in the MCEP transaction already has necessary permits approved for base case development program

• Temporary suspension not expected to interfere with any plans to restore shut in production with favorable economics at current oil prices across the portfolio

• Project Silvertip acquisition is expected to close February 1, 2021

Contango does not expect any negative impact on its legacy production or production from either of the recently announced MCEP and Silvertip acquisitions, or on permitting in any of its onshore areas. To the extent Contango has plans to restore shut in production, convert producing wells to injection wells for enhanced oil recovery, or conduct routine well interventions to optimize production, it does not anticipate the suspension will have any effect on those operations.

Wilkie S. Colyer, Jr., Contango's Chief Executive Officer, commented, "Our business model, which is focused on acquisition and management of cash-flowing, longer-lived assets at attractive prices, is not expected to be impacted by the Department of Interior's suspension of authority. Federal acreage within our asset base is comprised largely of developed reserves, thereby mitigating any impact the temporary suspension, or any increased regulation on the leasing and permitting process on federal lands, might have on our operations. Any increased regulation on drilling could ultimately be beneficial to companies with PDP-heavy profiles to the extent that it leads to higher future commodity prices. Lastly, we are excited for the closing of the Silvertip acquisition on February 1 and look forward to welcoming the employees of Silvertip to Contango."