The Conversation (0)
Jupiter Energy Investor Kit
- Corporate info
- Insights
- Growth strategies
- Upcoming projects
GET YOUR FREE INVESTOR KIT
Jupiter Energy
Investor Insight
Jupiter Energy’s cash-flow positive standing, substantial proven recoverable reserves and long-term strategic positioning in resource-rich Kazakhstan, make a compelling investment value proposition. Its commitment to sustainable operations, backed by its recent strategic investment in developing its 100 percent gas utilisation infrastructure, adds to the company’s investor appeal.
Overview
Jupiter Energy (ASX:JPR) is an established oil exploration and production company that operates three oilfields in Kazakhstan. The company has been producing approximately 600 to 700 barrels of oil per day from its licensed fields and has successfully navigated Kazakhstan’s regulatory and operational landscape since 2008. Its operations are fully compliant, with its three commercial production licenses secured until 2045/46/49. Jupiter Energy’s reserve base has been independently confirmed by a Sproule International competent person’s report (CPR), effective 31 December 2023, detailing significant recoverable reserves.
Jupiter Energy has a reputation as a reliable operator in the region. The company holds 100 percent ownership of its licenses, which cover a total area of approximately 123 sq km in the oil-rich Mangistau region. The license area is close to the port city of Aktau and strategically located in an area with established oil processing facilities and substantial oil and gas infrastructure, including pipelines to the country’s major oil refineries.
Jupiter has successfully transitioned its oilfields through the various regulatory phases required to reach full commercial production. Its three oilfields – Akkar East, Akkar North (East Block) and West Zhetybai – all operate under their respective 25-year full commercial licences. The company’s established compliance and operational framework underline its commitment to long-term sustainable production in Kazakhstan.
According to the Sproule International CPR, released in January 2024, Jupiter Energy’s recoverable reserves under the SPE/PRMS classification are as follows:
- 1P Reserves: 14.691 million barrels (mmbbls)
- 2P Reserves: 36.487 mmbbls
- 3P Reserves: 46.796 mmbbls
These figures confirm Jupiter’s substantial reserve base, with its Kazakh State Approved Reserves recorded at approximately 52 mmbbls (GOST C1 + C2 classification).
The company is also building the necessary pipelines to enable its current and future production wells to be connected into its larger neighbour’s existing gas utilisation infrastructure. This development will allow for the processing and utilisation of associated gas generated during oil production, not only complying with Kazakhstan’s legislation that is focussed on carbon-free operations but also benefiting the local community and contributing to Kazakhstan’s objective of reaching carbon neutrality over the coming decades. This project has seen close collaboration between Jupiter Energy, its larger oil producing neighbour and the Kazakh Ministry of Energy, thereby strengthening its relations with the Kazakh government and its people.
At the helm of Jupiter Energy is a highly experienced corporate and technical leadership team, driving the company towards achieving its goals and increasing shareholder value.
Company Highlights
- Operating in Kazakhstan since 2008, with three oilfields under licence.
- Holds commercial production licenses for all three oilfields, valid until 2045/2046/2049.
- Current production is approximately 640 barrels per day from four wells, with plans to increase to approximately 1,000 barrels per day by the end of 2024.
- After-tax NPS (20 percent discount) of US$180 million, with an EV of approximately AU$54 million (~US$36 million) – based on a share price of AU$0.025 per share.
- Operates in West Kazakhstan in the Mangistau region, a proven area for Kazakhstan’s oil reserves.
- The company is cash flow positive at the operational level.
- Key shareholders include Waterford (60.5 percent) and Blackbird Trust (21 percent), aligning interests and providing stability.
- Jupiter’s strategic investment in gas utilisation infrastructure, signifies its commitment to sustainable operations and its contribution to the welfare of the local community.
Key Project: Block 31
Block 31 is Jupiter Energy’s flagship project located in the Mangistau Basin of West Kazakhstan. Covering an area of approximately 123 sq km, it lies in a highly prospective region with proven oil reserves. The company acquired extensive 3D seismic data over the entire block and surrounding areas, totaling 235 sq km, which then enabled the identification of multiple drilling targets.
Jupiter has since drilled nine wells on Block 31, targeting the Akkar North (East Block), Akkar East, and West Zhetybai oilfields. The current production from Block 31 is approximately 640 barrels of oil per day, with plans to increase output to around 1,000 barrels per day with the drilling of a new well, with the spud data of this well expected in late November 2024. Further increases in production will come via the workovers of existing wells and the drilling of further new wells, planned from 2025 to 2030.
Gas Utilisation
Block 31's strategic significance is bolstered by its newly constructed gas utilization infrastructure, which will allow for the processing and management of associated gas produced during oil production, ensuring this gas is 100 percent utilised by the company, its larger oil producing neighbour and/or by local communities. Kazakhstan has imposed stringent regulations against gas flaring, the practice of burning gas by-products that are generated during oil production. This means that 100 percent gas utilisation is a mandatory requirement for oil producers with full commercial licences in Kazakhstan.
Jupiter’s gas utilisation infrastructure, currently under construction, is expected to be approved for operation in November 2024. This will enable its oilfields to connect to a larger neighbouring producer’s existing gas utilisation facility, which will in turn process and manage the oilfields’ gas by-product. The strategic investment in gas utilisation infrastructure strengthens Jupiter’s relations with the local community and signifies its commitment to sustainable production and helping Kazakhstan reach carbon neutrality in the coming decades.
Management Team
Geoff Gander - Chairman and CEO
Geoff Gander graduated from the University of Western Australia in 1984, where he completed a Bachelor of Commerce degree. He has been involved in the listing and running of public companies since 1994. He was appointed as a director of Jupiter Energy in January 2005 and he is currently responsible for the overall operational leadership of the company, as well as investor relations and group corporate development.
Baltabek Kuandykov - Non-executive Director
Baltabek Kuandykov is currently the president of Meridian Petroleum, a privately held Kazakh oil & gas company. He was formerly the president of Nelson Resources, an oil development and production company operating in Kazakhstan which was listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange until its acquisition by Lukoil in 2005. Kuandykov has considerable experience in the oil and gas industry in the region, having served as president of Kazakhoil (predecessor of the Kazakh State oil company KazMunaiGas), and is a well-respected consultant to Chevron Overseas Petroleum on CIS projects. He also worked in a senior capacity for Kazneftegazrazvedka and was president of Kazakhstancaspishelf. Kuandykov has extensive government experience in Kazakhstan, having served as deputy minister of geology, head of the oil and gas directorate at the Ministry of Geology, and was deputy minister of energy and fuel resources.
Alexey Kruzhkov - Non-executive Director
Alexey Kruzhkov holds an engineering degree and an MBA with over 10 years’ experience working in the investment industry, focusing primarily on the oil & gas, mining and real estate sectors. He has served as a director on the boards of companies listed in Canada and Norway. He is a member of the executive team of Waterford Finance and Investment Limited. He holds British and Russian citizenships.
Alexander Kuzev - Non-executive Director
Alexander Kuzev is an oil industry professional with over 26 years of experience. Most of his career has been spent working in the Former Soviet Union with much of that time responsible for the overall management of field operations with a focus on production sustainability, technology and field maintenance. He brings an important technical advisory skill set to the Jupiter Energy board, as well as in-country experience, having been involved with various Kazakhstan-based oil and gas operations since the late 1990s.
Keith Martens - Non-executive Director
Keith Martens has over 40 years’ experience as an oil finder and manager around the world. He has served as a technical advisor and consultant to a number of Australian oil & gas companies, and was instrumental in the discovery of Jupiter’s Akkar East and West Zhetybai oil fields when he was consulting to Jupiter Energy between 2007 and 2014. More recently, Martens has been working on the Eastern Margin of the Permian Basin in Texas with Winchester Energy and in the Paradox Basin in Utah and Colorado, as both lead explorationist and non-executive chairman of ASX listed Grand Gulf Energy (ASX:GGE).
Alvopetro Energy
Investor Insight
Brazil’s expanding natural gas market, supported by an attractive and stable regulatory framework and fiscal regime offers a unique opportunity for Alvopetro Energy to leverage its high-potential assets and growth opportunities as an innovative natural gas company in the state of Bahia.
Overview
Alvopetro Energy (TSXV:ALV;OTCQX:ALVOF) is a pioneering independent natural gas producer in Brazil. The company was the first to deliver sales-specified natural gas onshore to the local distribution network previously dominated by the state oil company. This milestone, achieved on July 5, 2020, marked the beginning of a new era in Brazil's gas market.
As an independent upstream and midstream operator, Alvopetro engages in the acquisition, exploration, development and production of natural gas and oil. The company holds interests in the Caburé and Murucututu natural gas assets, Block 182 and 183 exploration assets, and Bom Lugar and Mãe-da-lua oil fields, which cover an area of over 22,000 acres in the Recôncavo basin onshore Brazil. Alvopetro Energy was incorporated in 2013 and is headquartered in Calgary, Canada.
State of Bahia – Reconcavo Basin
Alvopetro adheres to a balanced capital allocation model, reinvesting half of its funds flow from operations in organic growth opportunities while returning the remaining 50 percent back to stakeholders (through dividends, debt and interest payments and capital lease payments). Since production came online in July of 2020, funds flow from operations has reached ~$156 million with 43 percent being reinvested into capital expenditure initiatives, 48 percent being returned to stakeholders, and 9 percent going back to strengthening the company’s balance sheet.
Alvopetro continues to focus on minimizing its environmental impact, responsibly supplying energy, and having a positive influence on the communities where it operates. Alvopetro currently invests in various voluntary social programs that have been well received by the community. The company’s focus has been on the sustainable development of its rural communities, entrepreneurship, education, cultural and sporting activities, as well as biodiversity preservation.
Company Highlights
- Alvopetro is a leading independent upstream and midstream gas operator in the state of Bahia, Brazil.
- The company’s strategy is focused on unlocking Brazil’s on-shore natural gas potential, building off the development of its Caburé and Murucututu natural gas fields strategic midstream infrastructure.
- Over 95 percent of Alvopetro’s production is from natural gas and the company has a 2P reserve base of 9.6 MMboe.
- The company boasts high operating netbacks and profitability per unit of production, setting it apart from its Latin American and North American peers. The state of Bahia boasts a favorable fiscal regime with low royalties and a 15 percent income tax rate.
Key Projects
Caburé
The company’s flagship Caburé asset (56.2 percent Alvopetro) delivers the majority of Alvopetro’s current production. The project is a joint development (the unit) of a conventional natural gas discovery across four blocks, two of which are held by Alvopetro and two of which are held by its partner, with Alvopetro’s working interest being 56.2 percent following the first redetermination. The unit currently includes eight existing wells, with all production facilities already in place. The resource is well defined with 3D seismic surveys, particularly on the eastern side of a main bounding fault that runs roughly north-south through the Caruaçu formation. The company plans to drill an additional five wells in 2025 to further improve the productive capacity of the field.
Midstream – Infrastructure and marketing (100 percent Alvopetro)
All of Alvopetro’s natural gas produced from Caburé and Murucututu are shipped via 100 percent owned and operated natural gas pipelines to Alvopetro’s natural gas processing facility (UPGN). At the UPGN, the natural gas goes through a mechanical refrigeration process, with condensate and water removed during the process, and condensate then gets trucked out and sold at a premium to Brent. The natural gas gets delivered to a receiving station (city gate) that was built by the company’s offtaker, Bahiagás, the distribution company for the State of Bahia.
The gas then gets shipped via a newly built 15 km distribution pipeline to the Camacari industrial complex (~17.5 km away), where the vast majority of the natural gas in the state of Bahia gets consumed.
Natural gas is sold to Bahiagas under a long-term gas sales agreement, with pricing set quarterly based on Brent and Henry Hub benchmark prices. Alvopetro recently announced an updated gas sales agreement effective January 1, 2025, increasing firm sales volumes by 33 percent.
Organic Growth Opportunities
Maximizing the Gas Plant
In the near-to-mid term, Alvopetro has a goal to maximize its gas plant capacity to 18 million cubic feet per day (or 3,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day), with a plan to double its capacity in the coming years through both ongoing development at the Caburé Unit and a multi-year development of the Murucututu field.
Unit Development
Alvopetro’s working interest in the Caburé Unit was recently increased from 49.1 percent to 56.2 percent and as a result, Alvopetro is now entitled to higher production entitlements from the Unit. In addition, with the unit development drilling activities planned to commence in 2025, the overall productive capacity of the Unit is targeted to increase.
Murucututu Gas
Alvopetro’s Murucututu asset (100 percent owned) sits immediately north of Caburé. Independent reserve estimators, GLJ, highlight the potential for this field with 2P reserve totaling 4.6 million barrels of oil equivalent, risked best estimate contingent resource of 5.4 million barrels of oil equivalent and risked best estimate prospective resource of 9.6 million barrels of oil equivalent representing a significant addition to the company’s current 2P reserve base.
Alvopetro Energy finished the recompletion of its 183-A3 well in the third quarter of 2024. The well came on production in September prompting the company’s natural gas sales from the Murucututu field in Q4 2024 to increase by 262 percent compared to Q3 2024. The company has a follow-up well planned for the field in early 2025.
Management Team
Corey C. Ruttan – President, Chief Executive Officer and Director
Corey C. Ruttan is the president, chief executive officer and director of Alvopetro. He was the president and CEO of Petrominerales, from May 2010 until it was acquired by Pacific Rubiales Energy in November 2013. Prior to that, he was the vice-president of finance and chief financial officer of Petrominerales. From March 2000 to May 2010, Ruttan was the senior vice-president and chief financial officer of Petrobank Energy and Resources, and held increasingly senior positions with Petrobank since its inception in 2000. He also served as executive vice-president and chief financial officer of Lightstream Resources from October 2009 to May 2010; served as vice-president of Caribou Capital from June 1999 to March 2000; and manager financial reporting of Pacalta Resources from May 1997 to June 1999. He began his career at KPMG where he worked from September 1994 to May 1997. Ruttan obtained his Bachelor of Commerce degree majoring in accounting from the University of Calgary in 1994 and his chartered accountant designation in 1997.
Alison Howard – Chief Financial Officer
Alison Howard is a chartered accountant with over 20 years of experience in Canadian and international taxation, accounting and finance. Howard joined Petrominerales in July 2011 as a tax manager and was subsequently promoted to tax director. From May 2008 to July 2011, Howard was the tax manager at Petrobank Energy and Resources. Prior to that, Howard spent a number of years at Deloitte LLP in Calgary. She obtained her Bachelor of Commerce degree from the University of Saskatchewan in 1999.
Adrian Audet – VP, Asset Management
Adrian Audet joined Petrominerales in 2013 and has held increasingly senior roles with Alvopetro since its inception. Audet has spent extensive time in Bahia overseeing the operations, realizing extensive cost savings and improvements in efficiency. Previously, Audet held engineering roles with increasing responsibility in the oil and gas industry. Audet began his career in 2006 and completed his masters and undergraduate degrees in mechanical engineering at the University of Alberta. Audet is a professional engineer registered with APEGA and is a CFA charterholder.
Nanna Eliuk – Exploration Manager
Nanna Eliuk is a professional geophysicist (M.Sc.) with over 23 years of diversified petroleum exploration and development experience. She has expertise in conventional and unconventional plays in both carbonate and clastic reservoirs in different depositional and structural settings (including pre-salt) in various basins around the world. Prior to joining Alvopetro, Eliuk was the senior explorationist of Condor Petroleum (Kazakhstan) for two years, and prior thereto, she was the vice-president of geophysics and land for Waldron Energy. Eliuk started her career in 1997, holding progressively senior roles at Husky Energy for five years, and at Compton Petroleum for over six years. Her extensive experience includes geophysical evaluation and analysis for business development opportunities and new ventures in various international basins, along with regional mapping, play fairway analysis, petroleum system evaluation, prospect definition, and seismic attribute analysis. Eliuk holds a masters degree in geology and geophysics, and a BSc. in geology.
Frederico Oliveira – Country Manager
Frederico Oliveira has held increasingly senior roles since 2008 and has expertise in regulations, contracts, partnerships, management and cost efficiency. He has held management roles in large private companies in Brazil, performing strategic planning, project implementation, process restructuring, efficiency and productivity improvements, and cost control. Oliveira obtained an MBA from the Federal University of Minas Gerais in 2004 and a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from the Pontificia Universidade Catolica de Minas Gerais.
Jupiter Energy Investor Kit
- Corporate info
- Insights
- Growth strategies
- Upcoming projects