Gulfport production surged in second quarter

Gulfport Energy Corp.’s natural gas production surged in the second quarter, backed by increased drilling in Ohio and development of its recently purchased Oklahoma assets, the Oklahoma City-based natural gas company said Monday.

Second quarter production jumped to 1.04 billion cubic feet equivalent per day, up 56 percent from the year-ago period and 22 percent more than in the first quarter of 2017.

The production increase was led by the company’s activities in Ohio’s Utica Shale and in Oklahoma’s SCOOP field. Gulfport earlier this year completed a $1.85 billion purchase of 46,400 net SCOOP acres.

“In the Utica Shale, the Gulfport team continues to make great strides in the field, marking the second quarter as the most active quarter from a tie-in line perspective the company has experienced since entering the play in 2011,” CEO Michael G. Moore said in a statement. “In the SCOOP, the integration of the assets is going very well and Gulfport turned-tosales our first two operated Woodford completions in the play during the second quarter ... and continue to be pleased with the results from these wells as we accumulate additional production data.”

Gulfport’s second-quarter production was about 88 percent natural gas, 8 percent natural gas liquids and 4 percent oil. Besides increased production, Gulfport also has benefited from much-improved commodity prices.

Including hedges and derivatives, Gulfport sold its natural gas for an average price of $3.16 per thousand cubic feet in the second quarter, up from a loss of $1.10 per thousand cubic feet in the year-ago period. The company’s realized oil price increased to $57.86 a barrel, up from 37.23 in the second quarter of 2016.

Based on continued increased production, Gulfport executives on Monday raised the company’s 2017 full-year production guidance to a range of 1.065 billion to 1.1 billion equivalent cubic feet per day.

Gulfport shares fell $1.08, or 7.9 percent, Monday to close at $12.62 on the Nasdaq.