Enerplus Corporation (NYSE:ERF) Q1 2023 Earnings Conference Call May 5, 2023 11:00 AM ET
Company Participants
Drew Mair - Senior Manager of Investor Relations
Ian Dundas - President & Chief Executive Officer
Wade Hutchings - Senior Vice President & Chief Operating Officer
Conference Call Participants
Robert Mann - RBC Capital Markets
Jeoffrey Lambujon - TPH
Travis Wood - National Bank Financial
Patrick O'Rourke - ATB Capital Markets
Operator
Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, and welcome to the Enerplus Q1 2023 Results Conference Call. At this time, all lines are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions] This call is being recorded on May 5, 2023.
I would now like to turn the conference over to Drew Mair, Senior Manager of Investor Relations. Please, go ahead.
Drew Mair
Thank you, operator, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining the call. Before we get started, please take note of the advisories located at the end of our first quarter news release. Our financials have been prepared in accordance with US GAAP. Our production volumes are reported on a net after deduction of royalty basis and our financial figures are in US dollars unless otherwise specified.
I am here this morning with Ian Dundas, our President and Chief Executive Officer; Wade Hutchings, Senior VP and Chief Operating Officer; Shaina Morihira, VP, Finance; and Garth Doll, VP, Marketing. Following our discussion, we will open up the call for questions.
With that, I will turn it over to Ian.
Ian Dundas
Thank you, Drew. Good morning all. As we come out of our first quarter, operating performance continues to be on track, and we remain well positioned to efficiently execute our 2023 plan, which is expected to deliver robust free cash flow, attractive growth and meaningful cash returns to our stockholders.
2023 capital spending and production guidance are unchanged. Production in the first quarter was resilient, averaging approximately 97,700 BOE per day. This was up 6% compared to the same period last year, despite having sold over 6,000 BOE a day in the fourth quarter in connection with the sale of our Canadian operations.
Operational momentum is building, as we progress through the second quarter, where we have a very active completions program. Wade will provide more details on the operational plan when he speaks.
We generated $260 million in adjusted fund flow in the quarter on capital spending of $139 million, resulting in free cash flow of approximately $120 million. We returned $67 million to our shareholders in the quarter, including repurchasing 3.5 million shares for $55 million.