Bonterra posts record output, targets $171M funds flow

Calgary-based Bonterra Energy Corp. reported record third-quarter production of 17,222 barrels of oil equivalent a day and set a $120-million capital budget for 2027 that targets $171 million in funds flow, the company said in results released Nov. 13.

Output was 19 per cent higher than a year earlier, the TSX-listed producer (TSX: BNE) said in its release on GlobeNewswire. Light crude oil and natural gas liquids production rose 17 per cent. Funds flow was $30.7 million, or 83 cents per fully diluted share, up 43 per cent per share from the third quarter of 2025.

Bonterra reported a net loss of $4.4 million, or 12 cents a share, for the quarter. The company said the result included an $11.2 million unrealized hedging loss that did not reduce funds flow. Net earnings for the first nine months of the year were $1.6 million.

Adjusted net debt stood at $184.4 million at Sept. 30, down $8.1 million from the second quarter, even after the company paid $4.65 million for a tuck-in acquisition at Bonanza Charlie Lake. That works out to 1.5 times trailing twelve-month EBITDA, compared with 1.6 times the previous quarter. WTI crude averaged US$85.79 a barrel in the quarter, while AECO natural gas averaged $1.56 per thousand cubic feet, the company said.

For 2027, the board approved $120 million in capital spending at the midpoint of guidance, about 90 per cent of it for base development that would put 23.6 net wells on production. The rest is for delineation drilling at Bonanza Charlie Lake and Wembley Montney that would add production in 2028. Average production is guided at 17,400 barrels a day, with $171 million of funds flow, or $4.67 a share, and $44 million of free funds flow.

The Canada News Media calculation: the third-quarter funds flow of $30.7 million, if repeated for four quarters, would come to about $123 million, so the 2027 guidance implies funds flow roughly 39 per cent higher than the current pace. Bonterra said it plans to bring adjusted net debt down to between $125 million and $135 million by the end of 2027, a cut of about $49 million to $59 million from September’s level.

Chief executive Patrick Oliver said the Charlie Lake drilling results to date have expanded the company’s inventory of top-tier locations. “We expect 2027 to be a year of building on our momentum and continuing to generate exceptional operational results across our three core areas,” Oliver said.

Bonterra’s pivot into the Wembley area comes as other Alberta producers rearrange their holdings there. Advantage Energy cut its net debt 59 per cent after closing a $325-million sale of its Wembley-area assets, which we reported on Oct. 29. Other Alberta producers have also used higher prices to pay down debt, including Canadian Natural Resources, which reached its $13-billion net debt target this month.

Oil prices matter to Alberta budgets as well as company results. We have also reported on the widening discount on Western Canadian Select, which affects what producers in the province are paid.

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