Enerplus Corp. says it will increase spending and production this year while continuing to focus on its North Dakota Bakken light oil play.
The mid-sized producer says it plans to spend between $565 million and $635 million this year, with the mid-point of $600 million set slightly higher than actual spending of $594 million in 2018.
Only 7.5 per cent of the funds are to be spent in Canada in 2019. Eighty per cent is allocated to fund a net 42-well drilling program in North Dakota and the rest is earmarked for its assets in the northeastern U.S. and Colorado.
Calgary-based Enerplus says it produced an average of 97,800 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the fourth quarter, up from 88,600 boepd in the same period of 2017.
In a three-year forecast, it says it plans to increase average production this year by nine per cent and by 10 to 13 per cent in 2020 and 2021.
Enerplus peers with most of their crude oil production in Canada — including Whitecap Resources Inc. and Crescent Point Energy Corp. — have announced cautious budgets for 2019, citing volatile Canadian oil and natural gas prices.
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