Evolution Petroleum announces results from joint interest audit of Barnett

Evolution Petroleum (EPM) announced the initial results of its joint interest audit of its Barnett Shale properties and is providing an update on its latest Chaveroo drilling results. In fiscal year 2024, Evolution exercised its right to perform a joint interest audit of expenses charged from Diversified Energy (DEC) Company, the largest operator of its Barnett Shale properties, for the calendar years 2022-2023. This is being completed with the assistance of its joint venture auditors, BRI Consulting Group, Inc., a Houston based consulting company servicing the energy industry.Calendar year 2022 represented the first full year that Diversified operated the Barnett Shale properties for Evolution. The initial findings produced several areas where it appeared Evolution had been over-charged and, so far, Evolution and Diversified have discovered approximately $1.8M owed to Evolution relating to the September 2021 through December 2023 time period. This amount will be recognized as a reduction to lease operating expenses and accounts payable in the Company’s fiscal fourth quarter and full-year 2025 results. Evolution plans to continue with its rights under the joint operating agreement to audit future periods. Mark Bunch, COO, commented, “As stated in our Fiscal third quarter earnings release, we are pleased to provide additional data on our most recent four wells at Chaveroo. We previously reported that these wells were completed on schedule and under budget. At that time, with only 10 days of production, the wells were significantly exceeding our expectations. I am pleased to report that with more than 50 days of production data, the wells continue to significantly outperform our type curves.”