Alberta Montney producer RMP Energy Inc. (RMP) had a rare good day, adding seven cents to 59 cents on 361,800 shares, after trumpeting the achievement of an "important corporate milestone." This would be the commissioning and start-up of its new oil and gas facility in its core Elmworth area. Elmworth is a relatively new area for RMP, which has drilled just three wells there so far. It drilled the first well last year and tested it at an encouraging 1,130 barrels of oil equivalent a day. The next two had less pleasing results, flowing respectively at 600 barrels a day and 390 barrels a day, but RMP continued to tout Elmworth as its next area for "growth." Before any growth could happen, the necessary infrastructure needed to be put in place, hence the above-mentioned facility. The facility is crucial to RMP's goal of producing an average of 4,500 barrels a day in the second half of 2017. (For context, RMP produced 3,200 barrels a day in the first quarter, mostly from its core Waskahigan Montney area.) Although the facility suffered weeks of delays related to weather, it is ready just in time for the second-half program. As well, a regional mid-stream service provider has successfully connected its existing infrastructure to RMP's facility, as agreed upon months ago. RMP has not identified the mid-stream service provider, but it can only be Meritage Midstream, which also works with Canadian International Oil Corp. (CIOC). CIOC is a private company and one of the most active drillers in this part of the Montney. Its acreage borders RMP's to the west.
The facility start-up is a welcome bit of good news for RMP. Its stock has had a hard fall to 59 cents from its mid-2014 high of over $10, despite its efforts to improve its balance sheet through asset sales and to bring in fresh officers and directors. Most recently, on May 30, it appointed three new directors, Jay McWilliams, Steven Oldham and Dean Bernhard (who is also RMP's chief financial officer). These appointments came just months after RMP appointed Josh Young of Bison Investments (a major shareholder) as chairman and Jon Grimwood (who had been RMP's vice-president of exploration) as president. They will all have their work cut out for them at RMP's next shareholder meeting. This has been repeatedly postponed, presumably because of the changes at the top, but is currently set for Tuesday, July 11.