During the third quarter of 2019, Ultra’s average realized natural gas price was $2.35 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), which includes realized gains on commodity hedges. Excluding the realized gains from commodity derivatives, the Company’s average price for natural gas was $2.04 per Mcf, compared to $2.46 per Mcf for the third quarter of 2018. The Company’s average realized oil and condensate price, including realized hedges, was $60.20 per barrel (Bbl) for the quarter ended September 30, 2019 as compared to $58.02 per Bbl for the same period in 2018.
Ultra’s reported net income was $11.5 million, or $0.06 per diluted share. Ultra reported adjusted net income of $15.2 million, or $0.08 per diluted share for the quarter ended September 30, 2019.
Year-to-Date Financial Results
Year-to-date, revenues from natural gas and oil sales, including processing credits but excluding realized derivative settlements, decreased to $571.1 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, as compared to $619.3 million in 2018. During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, production of natural gas and oil was 184.9 Bcfe, which was comprised of 177.0 Bcf of natural gas and 1,305 thousand barrels of oil.
During the nine months ended September 30, 2019, Ultra’s average realized natural gas price was $2.43 per Mcf, including derivative settlements. Excluding the derivative settlements, the Company’s average price for natural gas was $2.76 per Mcf compared to $2.41 per Mcf for the same period in 2018. The Company’s average realized oil price, including derivative settlements, was $59.81 per Bbl for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, as compared to $58.89 per Bbl for the same period in 2018.
For the nine months ended September 30, 2019, total capital expenditures were $233.6 million. During this period, the Company turned to sales 71 gross (70.3 net) operated vertical wells and 1 gross (0.9 net) horizontal well. Additionally, there were 22 gross (7.3 net) vertical wells operated by others that were turned to sales in the Pinedale field in Wyoming.
Ultra’s reported net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, was $109.3 million, or $0.55 per diluted share as compared with net income of $45.5 million or $0.23 per diluted share for the same period in 2018. Adjusted net income for the nine months ended September 30, 2019, was $46.5 million, or $0.24 per diluted share, as compared to $122.3 million and $0.62 per diluted share in 2018.
Pinedale Vertical Program
During the third quarter, the Company and its partners brought online 18 gross (17.8 net) vertical wells in Pinedale. The average24-hour IP rate for new operated vertical wells brought online in the quarter was 5.8 MMcfe/d.
The successful expansion of our two-string vertical wellbore pilot program over the course of the year and into the third quarter continued to meaningfully reduce drilling costs. The average cost of vertical wells drilled in the quarter was reduced to $2.8 million, a 12% decline from the second quarter. Seven new wells were successfully drilled of eight attempted, providing further confidence in the potential for future economic savings with this well design.
During the first nine months of 2019, operational optimization and the successful implementation of atwo-string well design have brought the average cost of new vertical wells to $2.8 million, down from $3.2 million.
“Our operations team continued to execute successfully. We completed seven2-string wells in the quarter, bringing theyear-to-date total to sixteen successful2-string wells. This effort has resulted in a material step change improvement to vertical well costs with successful2-string wells averaging $2.6 million. Insights from the evolution of thetwo-string design and our more intensive reservoir characterization in 2019 will drive similar savings, coupled with increased confidence in placement of wells when commodity prices support resumption of a drilling program,” said Ultra’s Chief Operating Officer Jay Stratton.
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