A day after announcing it had agreed to be acquired by Shell, ARC Resources reported Q1 2026 results on April 28. Overall production was up 2% sequentially, and 2026 guidance was unchanged. Management noted strong premiums for Alberta condensate so far in April.
Overall production of 418.5 Mboe/d was up 2% quarter-over-quarter (Q/Q), as natural gas volumes grew by 9% to 1.53 Bcf/d while Oil and NGLs production fell 6% to 163.0 Mb/d. Year-over-year (Y/Y), total production was up 12%, natural gas production was up 9%, and Oil & NGLs production was up 19%, thanks largely to last summer's CAD $1.6 billion acquisition of 35-40 Mboe/d of Montney assets adjacent to ARC's core Kakwa area from Strathcona Resources.
Volumes at ARC’s liquids-rich Attachie Montney development in Northeast BC, where disappointing well performance in 2025 led ARC to remove asset-specific production guidance with its Q4 2025 report, averaged 28.8 Mboe/d (+2% Q/Q, -7% Y/Y), while total production at Kakwa averaged 208.1 Mboe/d (-3% Q/Q, +28% Y/Y).
2026 guidance was unchanged at 405-420 Mboe/d (39% oil & NGLs) and capex of CAD $1.8-1.9 billion. Q2 volumes are expected to be lower due to typical spring maintenance turnaround work at its gas plants at Kakwa and Greater Dawson.
CEO Terry Anderson noted on the April 29 conference call that condensate prices in Alberta have recently been trading at a premium of about USD $8/bbl above WTI, compared to averaging roughly on par with WTI in the past couple of quarters.
