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WIKI ANALYSIS
Petrohawk Energy Corporation is a US independent oil and natural gas company aiming to acquire and develop a group of long-lived, low-risk properties in the southern United States. The company looks to eventually sell itself to a larger company at a premium. Instead of attempting to compete with larger oil and gas companies, Petrohawk has announced a strategy of shedding its outlying properties and developing a principal set of low-cost properties.
Because oil and gas prices are unpredictable, Petrohawk uses derivatives contracts to lower its overall risk profile and protect against a sudden drop in commodities prices. A decrease in oil and gas prices would adversely affect Petrohawk's revenue stream.
Petrohawk’s investments in the Haynesville Shale have proved quite profitable, with its initial well producing a record-setting 16.8 million cubic feet per day of natural gas. [1] In the long term, the movement towards renewable energy technology and global climate change regulation add to the uncertainty surrounding Petrohawk’s operating outlook.
Business Overview
Petrohawk Energy Corporation drills for oil and natural gas while developing its properties to increase their value. Petrohawk's properties are located in the Mid-Continent and Western regions of the United States.
The company's main properties in the Mid-Continent region are:
- Terryville, North Louisiana
- Elm Grove, North Louisiana
- Haynesville Shale, North Lousiana
- Fayetteville Shale, Arkansas
Over 90% of Petrohawk’s drilling locations are located within these four main resource areas. [3] Petrohawk also has 8 smaller operating locations throughout the Permian Basin, Oklahoma, Texas ,and Southeastern New Mexico. [4]
Petrohawk has 262 full-time employees and hires independent contractors on an as-needed basis. The company has no collective bargaining agreement with any of its employees. [5]
Sale of Gulf Coast Properties and Long Term Strategy
In June 2007, Petrohawk Energy announced a strategic repositioning plan to sell its Gulf Coast properties and concentrate on developing its properties in North Louisiana and the Fayetteville Shale. Four months later, the company sold its Gulf Coast properties for $825 million. [6] The sale resulted in the loss of 100 million cubit feet equivalents of production per day and over 200 billion cubic feet equivalents of proved reserves that the company aims to replace through future strategic acquisitions. [7] Over the following months, Petrohawk invested over $800 million in proceeds from the sale in a tax-efficient manner to develop the Fayetteville Shale in Arkansas, Elm Grove field, the Haynesville Shale in North Louisiana and Terryville field. [8] The sale was consistent with the company's long-term goals of maintaining a group of low-cost, long-term properties with significant potential for development.
Buy-and-Sell strategy
The company’s founder, Floyd C. Wilson, has demonstrated a penchant for forming a company, taking it public, and then selling it to another oil and gas company. Wilson founded Hugoton Energy Corporation in 1987 and sold it in 1998 for $450 million. Afterwards, he founded 3TEC Energy Corporation in 1999 and sold it in 2003 for $350 million.[9] Petrohawk Energy is Wilson’s third major startup, which according to its 10-K filing intends to sell “at an appropriate time with the goal of providing superior returns to stockholders.” [10]
Business & Financial Metrics[11]
In 2009, Petrohawk incurred a net loss of $1.03 billion on total revenues of $1.08 billion. This represents a 164.3% spike in net loss on a 1.1% decrease in total revenues from 2008, when the company lost $388.1 million on revenues of $1.10 billion.
Business Segments[12]
- Oil and Natural Gas (97.1% of revenue): This segment includes all four domestic shale mining operations that HK runs.
- Midstream (2.9% of revenue): This segment encompasses Hawk Field Services, HK's gathering subsidiary. This segment gathers and treats shale.
Trends and Forces
Hedging against price volatility
Because oil and gas prices are unpredictable, Petrohawk uses derivatives contracts in the oil and gas speculation market to lower its overall risk profile. This practice guarantees the company a specified amount of revenue even if oil and gas prices fall. However, if oil and gas prices rise higher than expected, the company loses potential revenue.
- Price collars: These agreements put a floor and ceiling on the price of a particular commodity for a fixed volume of production during a certain time period. The counterparty is paid if the market price exceeds the ceiling and Petrohawk is paid if the market price is under the floor.
- Swap agreements: These agreements provide for payments to, or receipts from, a counterparty based on whether the market price is above or below a predetermined price.
- Put options: Petrohawk pays a fixed premium to lock in a floor price. If the market price falls below the floor, the counterparty pays Petrohawk. [13]
Haynesville Shale Proves to be Valuable Investment
Petrohawk has leases or commitments for 275,000 acres in the Haynesville Shale, which are estimated to contain a total of 20 trillion cubic feet equivalents of reserves—almost equal to the annual consumption of natural gas in the US. [14]. Its acquisitions in the Haynesville Shale exceed other larger companies such as Goodrich Petroleum, GMX Resources, and Chesapeake Energy. [15]
Global Climate Change Regulation and Hybrid and Alternative Energy Technology
The growing momentum for government action against global warming will have a direct effect on Petrohawk Energy. The 2007 United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report and Al Gore’s An Inconvenient Truth have propelled the issue of climate change to the top of the national agenda. In February 2008, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, and Morgan Stanley stated that they would institute a set of "Carbon Principles" in which they would give investment priority to clean energy groups. A series of international meetings are currently taking place, culminating in the Copenhagen conference to be held in late 2009 with the goal of establishing a global climate change agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.[16]
Rising oil and gas prices are leading consumers and businesses to pursue alternative energy sources and to invest in renewable energy technology, including nuclear, solar, wind, biofuels, and ethanol. In addition, a growing sentiment for action on global warming has resulted in the popularization of “green” technologies, especially hybrid cars. [17] President Barack Obama has pledged to reduce carbon emissions by 80% below 1990 levels by 2050. [18]
Competition
The oil and natural gas industry is highly competitive in all aspects, from the identification of attractive properties for drilling, securing financing for these activities, and obtaining the necessary equipment and personnel to conduct these operations. [19] As a smaller domestic oil and gas company, Petrohawk must compete for personnel and properties with larger international energy companies that have significantly more capital and resources. [20]
References
- ↑ Reuters “Petrohawk shares up on Haynesville shale well results
- ↑ HK 2007 Annual Report, page 3
- ↑ HK 2007 Annual Report, page 3
- ↑ HK 2007 Annual Report, page 3
- ↑ HK 2007 10-K Item 1 "Business," page 14
- ↑ HK 2007 10-K, Item 1 "Business," page 5
- ↑ HK 2007 Annual Report, page 2
- ↑ HK 2007 Annual Report, page 2
- ↑ Answers.com “Hoover’s Profile: Petrohawk Energy Corporation”
- ↑ HK 2007 10-K Item 1 "Business," page 6
- ↑ HK 2009 10-K pg. 66
- ↑ 12.0 12.1 HK 2009 10-K pg. 101
- ↑ HK 2007 10-K, Item 1 "Business," page 9
- ↑ Reuters “Petrohawk shares up on Haynesville shale well results
- ↑ “The Haynesville is Hot” July 1, 2008
- ↑ Copenhagen 2009, “The Government’s Goals for COP15”
- ↑ Sunday Herald, “Green motorists face 20-week wait for eco-cars”
- ↑ CNN Election Center: Issues: Environment
- ↑ HK 2007 10-K, Item 1A "Risk Factors," page 17
- ↑ HK 2007 10-K, Item 1 “Business,” page 12
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