RETURN OF CAPITAL
Based on the fourth-quarter financial performance, Devon declared a fixed-plus-variable dividend of $0.89 per share. The dividend is payable on March 31, 2023, to shareholders of record at the close of business on March 15, 2023. For the full-year 2022, the company’s dividend payout more than doubled compared to 2021 to a record high of $5.17 per share.
As part of the fourth-quarter dividend announcement, the board approved an increase in the fixed dividend of 11 percent, or $0.02 per share. After the fixed dividend is funded, up to 50 percent of the excess free cash flow each quarter will be distributed to shareholders through the variable dividend.
Devon also returned capital to shareholders through the ongoing execution of its $2.0 billion share-repurchase authorization. To date, the company has repurchased 26 million shares since the commencement of the program, at a total cost of $1.3 billion. With this repurchase program, Devon is on track to decrease its outstanding share count by 5 percent.
OPERATING RESULTS
Production averaged 636,000 oil-equivalent barrels (Boe) per day in the fourth quarter, with oil volumes reaching a record high of 316,000 barrels per day. The company’s production in the quarter was reduced by 2 percent due to the impact of severe winter weather across its portfolio.
Devon’s upstream program for the fourth quarter averaged 25 operated drilling rigs and 114 gross operated wells were placed online. Total upstream capital spending was $874 million in the fourth quarter. Midstream, environmental, and other capital totaled $61 million in the quarter.
Production costs declined 6 percent compared to the previous quarter averaging $12.22 per Boe. The improved cost structure was driven by lower production taxes, resulting in field-level cash margins of $41.44 per Boe in the fourth quarter.
The company’s general and administrative expenses for the full-year 2022 increased 1 percent year over year. The increase was driven by higher personnel costs incurred in the fourth quarter.
ASSET-LEVEL HIGHLIGHTS
Delaware Basin: Production averaged 407,000 Boe per day (50 percent oil) in the quarter, with volumes growing 11 percent in 2022 compared to the prior year. Devon exited the year operating 16 rigs and 3 completion crews, resulting in 55 gross wells placed online in the fourth quarter across the company’s 400,000 net acres in the basin.
A top highlight was the co-development of multiple intervals within the Upper Wolfcamp at the company’s Todd area. The 14-well project, targeting three intervals in the Upper Wolfcamp flow unit, achieved initial production rates as high as 4,200 Boe per day. These highly commercial results further validate Devon’s stacked-pay resource potential in this portion of the field.
In 2023, the Delaware Basin will be the top funded asset in the company’s portfolio, representing 60 percent of total companywide capital spending. Of the 200-plus new wells planned for the upcoming year, roughly two-thirds of the activity will be directed toward development opportunities in New Mexico, with the remaining investment allocated to high-return projects across the company’s acreage in Texas.
First-quarter production in the Delaware will be impacted by infrastructure downtime resulting from an outage at a compressor station in the Stateline area along with minor third-party midstream downtime across the basin. The company estimates these temporary outages will curtail first-quarter volumes by approximately 10,000 Boe per day and expects to resume normal operations by the end of the first quarter.
Eagle Ford: Production averaged 68,000 Boe per day (62 percent oil), a 75 percent increase compared to the previous quarter. This volume growth was driven by integration of the Validus bolt-on acquisition and the commencement of 28 gross wells to production. In 2023, Devon plans to run 3 rigs and expects to bring online nearly 90 wells across its 82,000 net acre position.
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