Exhibit 99.1
Obsidian Energy Alberta Wildfire Update: Fields Coming Back Online
CALGARY, May 18, 2023 – OBSIDIAN ENERGY LTD. (TSX / NYSE American – OBE) (“Obsidian Energy”, the “Company”, “we”, “us” or “our”) is pleased to provide an update on the status of temporarily shut-in operations due to the impact of recent Alberta wildfires.
The wildfire activity has largely decreased in the Pembina area at this time. As a result, the majority of our Pembina fields that remained shut-in due to evacuation orders or for precautionary measures were restarted on the morning of Wednesday, March 17th, restoring an additional 6,600 boe/d of production on top of the 2,500 boe/d previously brought online. Combined, Pembina now has approximately 9,100 boe/d of light oil-weighted production restored.
With changing weather conditions, the Harmon Valley South field in Peace River was once again taken offline as a precautionary measure. Approximately 5,500 boe/d of heavy oil in Peace River and approximately 1,900 boe/d of light oil weighted production in Pembina is shut-in for a total of 7,400 boe/d curtailed across the two areas due to wildfires. To our knowledge, there has been no damage to the Company’s key assets or infrastructure.
The Company will continue to closely monitor the situation as it evolves and provide an update when appropriate as the protection and safety of our people, local communities, and the environment are of the highest priority. With changing winds and weather conditions, we will continue to adjust our plans accordingly to protect our people and the communities and maintain as much business continuity as possible. We are relieved that most of our employees and their families that were affected by evacuation orders have been able to return safely to their homes, and thank our staff, industry partners and emergency responders for their ongoing and tireless work to protect our communities.
ADDITIONAL READER ADVISORIES
FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
Certain statements contained in this document constitute forward-looking statements or information (collectively “forward-looking statements”) within the meaning of the “safe harbour” provisions of applicable securities legislation. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words such as “anticipate”, “continue”, “estimate”, “expect”, “forecast”, “budget”, “may”, “will”, “project”, “could”, “plan”, “intend”, “should”, “believe”, “outlook”, “objective”, “aim”, “potential”, “target” and similar words suggesting future events or future performance. In particular, this document contains forward-looking statements pertaining to, without limitation, the following: that we will continue to monitor the situation and provide an update when appropriate; and that we will continue to adjust our plans accordingly to protect our people and the communities and maintain as much business continuity as possible.
With respect to forward-looking statements contained in this document, the Company has made assumptions regarding, among other things: our ability to restart production; that there has been no damage to key assets and infrastructure; that we are able to monitor the situation by getting accurate and timely information; our ability to execute our plans as described herein and in our other disclosure documents and the impact that the successful execution of such plans will have on our Company and our stakeholders; our ability to execute our capital programs as planned without significant adverse impacts from various factors beyond our control, including extreme weather events, such as wildfires and flooding, infrastructure access and delays in obtaining regulatory approvals and third party consents; our ability to conduct an investigation
