Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. Announces Transition of Leadership
27 August 2019 - 8:30PM
Business Wire
Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. (NYSE:PHX) (“Panhandle” or “the
Company”) and its President, Chief Executive Officer and Director,
Paul F Blanchard Jr., announced a transition of leadership of the
Company, pursuant to which Mr. Blanchard has stepped down as a
member of the Board, and as President and Chief Executive Officer
of the Company effective August 26, 2019.
The Panhandle Board of Directors has appointed Chad L. Stephens,
Panhandle’s Lead Independent Director, to serve as Interim Chief
Executive Officer. Mr. Stephens has been a member of the Board
since 2017 and serves on the Audit Committee and the Compensation
Committee. He will remain a Director, and the role of Lead
Independent Director will be assumed by Mark T. Behrman, a member
of the Board since 2017.
Mr. Behrman stated, “We thank Paul for his leadership over the
last several years, and his contributions in our efforts to drive
shareholder value. The timing of this transition coincides well
with the Board’s evaluation of the Company’s strategy. Panhandle is
making an explicit shift with an increasing focus on the mineral
acquisition market. Paul has played an important role in the
history of the Company, both as Chief Operating Officer from 2010
to 2017, and as Chief Executive Officer since then, and we wish him
well in his future endeavors.”
“With its existing inventory of undeveloped minerals,
substantial free cash flow and modest leverage, Panhandle has
significant potential to participate in the active consolidation of
minerals and increase shareholder value,” Mr. Stephens stated. “The
Company is well positioned to focus in basins with activity that
offer substantial prospects for growth. Given the opportunities
that are available in the minerals space, I’m excited to take over
the role of interim CEO, and to work with the Board to execute the
optimal strategy of further enhancing shareholder returns. We have
a dedicated and experienced technical team and a well-developed
corporate platform on which to build. Over the next several months
my primary focus, in collaboration with the Board and the
management team, will be on evaluating the investment opportunities
available to Panhandle.”
About Chad L. Stephens
Mr. Stephens has many years of leadership experience in the oil
and gas industry. Most recently he served as Senior Vice President
– Corporate Development of Range Resources Corporation (NYSE:RRC)
(“Range”), a position he held from 2002 to 2018. Mr. Stephens
joined Range in 1990 as Senior Vice President – Southwest. While at
Range he was responsible for the origination, valuation and
acquisition or divestiture of over $4.0 billion of oil and gas
producing properties. Mr. Stephens served on Range’s internal
hedging committee and was responsible for the oversight of all gas,
oil and NGL marketing and sales. From 1988 to 1990, Mr. Stephens
was with Duer Wagner & Co., an independent oil and gas
producer. Before that, he was an independent oil operator in
Midland, Texas for four years. From 1979 to 1984, Mr. Stephens was
with Cities Service Company and HNG Oil Company. Mr. Stephens holds
a Bachelor of Arts degree in Finance and Land Management from the
University of Texas.
Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. (NYSE:PHX) Oklahoma
City-based, Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. is an oil and natural gas
mineral and leasehold acreage-focused capital allocator seeking the
highest per share returns while maintaining a conservative net
leverage ratio to ensure survivability and prosperity in all
business and mineral commodity price cycles. The capital allocation
tools include: (i) aggressive leasing of its mineral holdings; (ii)
acquisition of mineral acreage, in the cores of resource plays,
with substantial undeveloped opportunities that meet or exceed our
corporate return threshold; (iii) divestiture of minerals with
limited optionality and mineral rights when the amount negotiated
exceeds our projected total value; (iv) selective participation in
working interest wells on its existing holdings in the highest
quality, low-risk projects that are projected to exceed corporate
return thresholds; (v) payment of quarterly dividends, with
optionality for special dividends when available capital exceeds
operational requirements and has no other higher shareholder return
option for an extended time period; and (vi) repurchase of common
shares when the share price trades at a material discount to the
Company's estimated intrinsic value.
Forward-Looking Statements and Risk Factors – This report
includes “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section
27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities
Exchange Act of 1934. Forward-looking statements include current
expectations or forecasts of future events. They may include
estimates of oil and gas reserves, expected oil and gas production
and future expenses, projections of future oil and gas prices,
planned capital expenditures for drilling, leasehold acquisitions
and seismic data, statements concerning anticipated cash flow and
liquidity, and Panhandle’s strategy and other plans and objectives
for future operations. Although Panhandle believes the expectations
reflected in these and other forward-looking statements are
reasonable, we can give no assurance they will prove to be correct.
They can be affected by inaccurate assumptions or by known or
unknown risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual
results to differ materially from expected results are described
under “Risk Factors” in Part 1, Item 1 of Panhandle’s 2018 Form
10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. These “Risk
Factors” include the worldwide economic recession’s continuing
negative effects on the natural gas business; Panhandle’s hedging
activities may reduce the realized prices received for oil and
natural gas sales; the volatility of oil and gas prices; the
Company’s ability to compete effectively against strong independent
oil and gas companies and majors; the availability of capital on an
economic basis to fund reserve replacement costs; Panhandle’s
ability to replace reserves and sustain production; uncertainties
inherent in estimating quantities of oil and gas reserves and
projecting future rates of production and the amount and timing of
development expenditures; uncertainties in evaluating oil and gas
reserves; unsuccessful exploration and development drilling;
decreases in the values of our oil and gas properties resulting in
write-downs; the negative impact lower oil and gas prices could
have on our ability to borrow; drilling and operating risks; and
our inability to control activities on our properties as the
Company is a non-operator.
Do not place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements,
which speak only as of the date of this release, as Panhandle
undertakes no obligation to update this information. Panhandle
urges you to carefully review and consider the disclosures made in
this presentation and Panhandle’s filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission that attempt to advise interested parties of
the risks and factors that may affect Panhandle’s business.
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version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190827005191/en/
Panhandle Oil and Gas Inc. Chad Stephens, Interim CEO
405-948-1560
Investor Relations Counsel: The Equity Group Inc. Fred
Buonocore, CFA 212-836-9607 Mike Gaudreau 212-836-9620
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