Business
Western Energy Services Corp. Releases Second Quarter 2014 Financial and Operating Results, Increases 2014 Capital Budget and Declares Quarterly Dividend
CALGARY , July 30, 2014 /CNW/ - Western Energy Services Corp. ("Western" or the "Company...
About this update from Western Energy Services Corp.
[{"type":"text","content":"\n\n\nCALGARY, July 30, 2014 /CNW/ - Western Energy Services Corp. (\"Western\"\n or the \"Company\") (TSX: WRG) is pleased to release its second quarter\n 2014 financial and operating results.  Additional information relating\n to the Company, including the Company's financial statements and\n management's discussion and analysis as at and for the three and six\n months ended June 30, 2014 and 2013 will be available on SEDAR at www.sedar.com.  All amounts are denominated in Canadian dollars (CDN$) unless\n otherwise identified.\n\n\nSecond Quarter 2014 Highlights:\n\n\n\nOperating Revenue totalled $77.4 million, a $29.8 million increase (or\n 62%) over the same period in the prior year due to higher utilization\n and improved pricing in the contract drilling and production services\n segments, coupled with a larger average drilling rig fleet in Canada;\n\n\nUtilization per operating day in the Canadian contract drilling segment\n improved to 34% as compared to 28% in the second quarter of 2013 and\n the CAODC industry average of 25%.  In the United States, contract\n drilling utilization per operating day improved to 80% as compared to\n 45% in the same period of the prior year mainly due to fleet upgrades\n and strong operational performance.  With the exception of downtime for\n the completion of two 1,500 hp AC pad conversions, the United States\n fleet was fully utilized in the quarter;\n\n\nTotal well servicing hours in Western's production services segment\n increased significantly in the second quarter of 2014 to 23,433 hours\n as compared to 13,718 hours in the second quarter of 2013, a 71%\n increase, due to increased activity.  As a result, well servicing\n utilization improved to 40% as compared to 30% in the second quarter of\n 2013;\n\n\nEBITDA totalled $24.0 million (31% of Operating Revenue) in the second\n quarter of 2014 as compared to $9.2 million (19% of Operating Revenue)\n in the same period of the prior year.  The increase in EBITDA is mainly\n due to the increased activity and improved pricing in both the contract\n drilling and production services segments coupled with effective cost\n control;\n\n\nDuring the second quarter of 2014, capital expenditures totalled $27.0\n million and include $21.0 million of expansion capital, $3.9 million of\n maintenance capital and $2.1 mi...