Devon Business Practices

[catch22]

At the end of the day, jobs that can be in OKC will be moved to OKC, while those that need to remain in that area will stay there.

Companies will never say it, but 99% of the time that is what happens.

[Pete]

Full article released internally:

Devon is delivering a dramatic boost to its oil portfolio, announcing today a $6 billion cash acquisition for assets in the heart of the Eagle Ford, one of North America’s most prolific oil plays. The move makes Devon one of the top light oil producers among North American independents.

Devon will acquire GeoSouthern Energy’s interest in the play, which includes:
Current production of approximately 53,000 barrels of oil equivalent (BOE) per day, 56 percent of which is light, sweet oil
82,000 net acres
1,200 undrilled locations
The risked recoverable resource is estimated at 400 million barrels of oil equivalent. The transaction is expected to be immediately accretive to almost all financial metrics, including earnings per share and cash flow per share, adjusted for debt.

“This is a world-class asset in the heart of the Eagle Ford,” said John Richels, president and CEO. “It is derisked and ready for full-scale development.”

The acquired acreage is focused exclusively in the Eagle Ford with the acreage primarily located in DeWitt and Lavaca counties in Texas. The acreage is largely contiguous, with most of the position held by production. The acreage position is located in the very best part of the play, as evidenced by the highest average initial production rates in the entire Eagle Ford play.

The majority of the 82,000 net acres is located in DeWitt County and is derisked, with at least one producing well in each drilling unit. By entering the play in full development mode, Devon expects to substantially grow production in the near term while generating significant free cash flow.

The acquired assets are expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of approximately 25 percent over the next several years, reaching a peak of 140,000 BOE per day. The development drilling program is immediately self-funding and expected to generate annual free cash flow in excess of $800 million in 2015 and to grow thereafter.

The deal is expected to close in the first quarter of 2014. Once it closes, most of GeoSouthern’s Eagle Ford employees will become Devon employees, working in the Woodlands, Texas, office.

The New Devon

This transaction is one part of Devon’s strategy to bolster its asset portfolio with high-margin properties and bring greater focus to its capital, both human and financial. This increased focus on core assets will deliver significant light oil production growth in 2014 and beyond.

“We are focusing on optimizing our key development areas and pursuing our emerging plays,” said Dave Hager, chief operating officer. “This also means we will be monetizing non-core assets, which generate low margins, lack scale and are not capable of contributing significant growth today or in the future.”

These non-core assets include Devon’s entire Canadian conventional business and certain other assets in the United States.

“These are important steps to improve our portfolio, but great assets alone will not deliver great results,” said Hager. “It takes exceptional execution and thoughtful alignment with our company’s value chain. I am very optimistic that with the bold steps we are taking to improve our portfolio, combined with superior execution by our terrific team of employees, we will achieve our vision to be the premier independent oil and natural gas company in North America.”

I've bolded a key part of this press release because it has gone almost completely unnoticed and in fact could be a very important development for Oklahoma City.

I've been told that:
1) The GeoSouthern acquisition will not mean a significant number of new jobs in OKC because most their wells are non-operated (drilled and operated by a third part) and that arrangement is expected to continue. However, Devon will operate some new wells in that area and thus there will be an OKC-based team for that purpose.
2) They are selling off all their Canadian assets then effectively shutting down their Canadian office (Calgary)
3) There are over 800 Devon full-time employees in Calgary plus over 500 in the field
4) A good chunk (up to 50%) of all Devon's IT personnel are in Calgary
5) Many of these non-field positions may be moved to Oklahoma City

[PhiAlpha]

I've bolded a key part of this press release because it has gone almost completely unnoticed and in fact could be a very important development for Oklahoma City.

I've been told that:
1) The GeoSouthern acquisition will not mean a significant number of new jobs in OKC because most their wells are non-operated (drilled and operated by a third part) and that arrangement is expected to continue. However, Devon will operate some new wells in that area and thus there will be an OKC-based team for that purpose.
2) They are selling off all their Canadian assets then effectively shutting down their Canadian office (Calgary)
3) There are over 800 Devon full-time employees in Calgary plus over 500 in the field
4) A good chunk (up to 50%) of all Devon's IT personnel are in Calgary
5) Many of these non-field positions may be moved to Oklahoma City

I've heard they plan to sell off all of their "conventional" Canadian assets and will be shifting/downsizing the staff associated with those. Devon has a decent sized position in Canadian unconventional assets including mainly the Alberta oil Sands (think the Thunder commercial that ran over and over again for 3 years about drilling a horizontal well and then drilling a steam horizontal well on top of it to loosen up the heavy oil and allow it to seep into the original well). I've seen no indication that they plan to sell those assets and close down the entire Calgary office. Not to say that a complete shutdown is not at all possible, but that's not what that article indicates or what I've heard from people I know there.

[BillyOcean]

I would be shocked if DVN bought into (at a top price nonetheless) a largely non-op position. There is no way they would spend 6B to be at the mercy of third party operators. I am sure they will have several non-op interests, but my guess is at least half of 1200 locations would be controlled and operated by DVN.

[lasomeday]

I've bolded a key part of this press release because it has gone almost completely unnoticed and in fact could be a very important development for Oklahoma City.

I've been told that:
1) The GeoSouthern acquisition will not mean a significant number of new jobs in OKC because most their wells are non-operated (drilled and operated by a third part) and that arrangement is expected to continue. However, Devon will operate some new wells in that area and thus there will be an OKC-based team for that purpose.
2) They are selling off all their Canadian assets then effectively shutting down their Canadian office (Calgary)
3) There are over 800 Devon full-time employees in Calgary plus over 500 in the field
4) A good chunk (up to 50%) of all Devon's IT personnel are in Calgary
5) Many of these non-field positions may be moved to Oklahoma City

I don't know who your source is, but they don't know what they are talking about.... The GeoSouthern wells will be drilled by BHP and then operated by Devon. They are not selling all of their Canadian assets and definitely not closing their Canadian office. They are not moving anybody from Calgary to OKC. PhiAlpha is spot on.

[DoctorTaco]

A first this week: Came to work late and the Devon parking garage was full. Like 100% full. 6 or 7 cars like mine going floor to floor waiting for someone to leave.

[Pete]

A first this week: Came to work late and the Devon parking garage was full. Like 100% full. 6 or 7 cars like mine going floor to floor waiting for someone to leave.

Wow. Wonder if they might try and lease some spaces in the soon-to-be-expanded City Center East Garage.

I know they recently shifted parking for Vast (restaurant and all events) to City Center.


Time to get to work on the Preftakes block!

[DoctorTaco]

Wow. Wonder if they might try and lease some spaces in the soon-to-be-expanded City Center East Garage.

I know they recently shifted parking for Vast (restaurant and all events) to City Center.


Time to get to work on the Preftakes block!

I know they still lease out space to some of the firms in Corporate Tower and Oklahoma Tower. My uninformed guess is that those leases will not be renewed.

[BoomerSooner06]

Devon Garage parking concerns addressed
Employees also reminded of garage safety rules
Announcement
January 20, 2014
Oklahoma City
Page Content
​In recent months, employees likely have noticed the Devon Garage has been filled to capacity, but the company is taking steps to increase space for employee parking.

From Jan. 20-24, 50 non-Devon parkers will be moved out of the garage. Another 50 will move out over the next 30 days.

Senior Corporate Services Director Kent Chrisman and his team regularly monitor garage parking and will continue to relocate non-Devon parkers to other garages as space becomes available.

“By June, we expect to relocate more than 300 non-Devon parkers from the garage with the goal to eventually move out all of them,” Chrisman said.

Garage Security monitors parking space availability every day and will open the visitor lot gates if employees are unable to find an open space throughout the garage, including the 10th floor. If spaces are available on the 10th floor, employees will need to park there instead of asking for entry to the visitor lot.

Garage safety reminders

As always, employees should be cautious and respectful of other parkers in the Devon Energy Center Garage for their safety and the safety of others. Please be mindful of the following garage rules.
Drive slowly and pay attention at all times.
Obey all directional signs.
Remember the 5 mph speed limit in the garage.
Avoid texting and the use of cell phones while driving.
Give pedestrians the right-of-way, both inside and outside the garage.
Be courteous of other parkers – park properly within the lines of your space.

[Pete]

I wonder where all these parkers are moving?

The City Center East Garage will soon be expanded but in the shorter term that will result in a parking reduction during construction.

[Naptown12713]

I found this article online....Devon's Major Divestments: Sold $7 billion worth of assets in Azerbaijan, Brazil, and the Gulf of Mexico to BP; sold additional Gulf of Mexico Assets to Apache for $1 billion; sold partial stake in several shale plays to Sinopec for $2.2 billion; sold another partial stake in shale acreage to Sumitomo for $1.4 billion; and 'plans to sell off its Canadian natural gas assets' as well as spin off $4.8 billion of its midstream assets into a Master Limited Partnership with its merger with Crosstex Energy. Total divestments: $12.1 billion.

[Pete]

Devon Energy Sheds Canadian Assets for $2.8B, Turns 4Q Profit | Fox Business

[ljbab728]

I wonder if this will affect their Calgary offices.

[DoctorTaco]

I wonder if this will affect their Calgary offices.

It will definitely be shrinking. The tar sands (aka thermal oil) stuff that they are keeping is manpower-intensive, so obviously they will still be keeping a strong presence up there. But you simply cannot get rid of that many assets and not lay off a ton of staff.

[Plutonic Panda]

Devon tops Oklahoma City oil producers | News OK

[Plutonic Panda]

Here's an article about the big, bad oil companies that suck incentives

Devon gives $1.1 million gift to food bank | News OK

[Pete]

Devon Energy sells assets to Linn Energy for $2.3B - Houston Business Journal

Houston’s Linn Energy LLC (Nasdaq: LINE) and LinnCo LLC (Nasdaq: LNCO) said June 30 that Linn has agreed to acquire assets from Oklahoma City-based Devon Energy Corp. (NYSE: DVN) for $2.3 billion.

The deal is for approximately 900,000 net acres across the Rockies, Mid-Continent east Texas, north Louisiana and south Texas regions with approximately 4,500 total wells. They're currently producing 275 million cubic feet equivalent per day, 80 percent of which is natural gas.

Linn also identified more than 1,000 future drilling locations and more than 600 recompletion opportunities.

[Plutonic Panda]

Devon Energy reports record oil production | News OK

[PhiAlpha]

CEO John Richels plans to retire in July. They are promoting COO Dave Hager.

Devon CEO John Richels to retire in July | NewsOK.com

[Pete]

The letter to the Environmental Protection Agency from Attorney General Scott Pruitt of Oklahoma carried a blunt accusation: Federal regulators were grossly overestimating the amount of air pollution caused by energy companies drilling new natural gas wells in his state.

But Mr. Pruitt left out one critical point. The three-page letter was written by lawyers for Devon Energy:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/12/07/us...eral.html?_r=0

[Pete]

Big surprise; Oklahoman writes an editorial in favor of Devon / Pruitt's actions:

Oklahoma AG Pruitt's efforts are hardly 'secretive' | News OK

[catch22]

It's crazy that the NY Times better reports the corruption in Oklahoma than our own paper does.

Unless it's an editorial about how Obama is a Muslim/Kenyan, they are all over getting those printed.

[Pete]

The Oklahoman has a very strong big business bias. Always has and it's only intensified since Philip Anschutz acquired them a few years ago.

They receive most their revenues from advertising from companies like Devon and Chesapeake.

Plus, OPUBCO is getting money from the Devon TIF to move into the Century Center; this is on top of TIF money for the Century Center development itself.


There are so many conflicts of interest it wold be a major effort to document them all.

[TheTravellers]

Posted this in the other thread in Politics, might as well put it here too:

The Oklahoman is rushing to the defense of Scott Pruitt? | The Lost Ogle

And I don't think this state really has much investigative journalism/journalists left in it (Pete's excellent TEEMCO story doesn't count, he's in CA, lol), not a surprise it takes an out-of-state paper to bring this up.

[Plutonic Panda]

Devon Energy reports fourth-quarter results | The Journal Record