Vermilion to exit US with Wyoming asset sale

Canada’s Vermilion Energy said on June 5 that it had agreed to sell its remaining US assets for cash proceeds of CAD120mn ($88mn) to an unnamed buyer.

The assets are located in the Powder River Basin in Wyoming and include production of around 5,500 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), with oil and liquids accounting for roughly 81%. Proven, developed, producing (PDP) reserves associated with the assets were estimated at around 10mn barrels of oil equivalent (boe) at the end of 2024, according to an evaluation by McDaniel & Associates Consultants. According to previous comments by the company, the assets have multi-zone development potential, including the Niobrara and the Parkman zones.

The sale is due to close in the third quarter of 2025 and includes CAD10mn ($7mn) of contingent payments based on West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude prices over a two-year period starting on July 1, 2025.

“This transaction, combined with the sale of our East Finn assets in 2023, completes our exit from the United States, allowing us to focus on our core gas-weighted assets in Canada and Europe,” Vermilion stated.

In line with this shift in focus, the company has engaged in other transactions earlier this year. In February, Vermilion acquired Westbrick Energy for CAD1.075bn ($786mn), expanding its footprint in Alberta’s Deep Basin. In the company’s earnings call for the fourth quarter of 2024, held in March this year, it said that it had launched a process to sell non-core assets as part of the Westbrick acquisition in an effort to help pay down debt.

In May, Vermilion said it had agreed to sell its Saskatchewan and Manitoba assets for CAD415mn ($304mn). That transaction is also due to close in the third quarter of the year. The proceeds from both transactions will go towards debt repayment.

In its latest announcement, Vermilion also issued updated capital expenditure guidance for 2025. The company said its capital budget for the year was now CAD630-660mn ($461-483mn), down by around CAD100mn ($73mn) from the midpoint of its previous guidance. This reflects the removal of all remaining exploration and development capital associated with the Saskatchewan and US assets, Vermilion said.

Meanwhile, the company said it expects production to be 117,000-122,000 boepd in both the second half of the year and over the whole of 2025. Vermilion’s original guidance was 84,000-88,000 boepd for the year, though this was revised upwards to 125,000-130,000 boepd after the company agreed to buy Westbrick and has now been revised down again to account for the recent asset sales. Vermilion now expects its output to be 68% gas-weighted in the second half of 2025 and 65% gas-weighted over the whole year.