PetroBakken Energy Ltd. (Toronto: PBN) has provided an update on first quarter operations. All well counts contained in this press release are net numbers.

The first quarter of 2013 was very active as the company drilled 53 wells, placed 40 wells on production and exited the quarter with an inventory of 30 wells waiting to be brought on-stream. Though well activity decreased from the fourth quarter of 2012, production continued to grow and averaged 49,079 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd) (82% light oil and liquids weighted) during the first quarter. This represents a 4% increase over the Q4 2012 average production of 47,192 boepd and a 5% increase over Q1 2012. Current production, based on field estimates for the first week of April, is approximately 48,300 boepd, with over 1,600 boepd of production currently restricted due to third party processing capacity limitations.

The majority of drilling activity occurred in the Bakken and Cardium business units. In the Bakken business unit, 15 wells were drilled and 14 wells were placed on production. Production for the quarter averaged approximately 19,000 boepd, which was relatively flat to fourth quarter 2012 production of 19,700 boepd. Production in the first week of April, based on field estimates, is approximately 19,000 boepd.

In the Cardium business unit the company drilled 23 wells and placed 17 wells on production, with the majority of the activity occurring in the West Pembina area of the business unit. At the end of the quarter the PetroBakken had 22 wells waiting to be brought on production and expects to bring on 10 of these wells prior to activities being restricted by spring break-up conditions. Production for the first quarter averaged approximately 20,600 boepd, an 8% increase over the fourth quarter of 2012. PetroBakken still has approximately 600 boepd of production restricted in the Lochend region and expect to have it on-stream by the end of the second quarter as facility expansions in the area are completed. Production in the first week of April is approximately 19,300 boepd with more than 1,000 boepd of production in the Brazeau region recently restricted due to increasing line pressures as a result of overall growth in the area. The company expects to have this production restored in the third quarter of 2013.

The industry is now entering spring break-up, which is a period of reduced activity in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin due to road bans and weather related conditions. While the impact of break-up on operations is weather dependent, and can sometimes be prolonged by early summer rains, PetroBakken anticipates seasonal downtime due to restricted operations and we forecast second quarter production will fall from current levels. The annual forecasts include higher downtime factors for this period. Compared to previous years, the company expects the impact of spring break-up to be reduced as our production base is more mature and more wells have been tied-in to infrastructure. In addition, new wells and the de-bottlenecking of restricted production in the Cardium business unit in the second quarter will help mitigate the impact of spring break-up.

The results of the Q1 capital program, combined with planned activities for the remainder of the year have put the company on pace to drill 129 wells in 2013 and achieve a year-over-year average production growth of 8% to 12%. The 2013 capital plan of $675 million is expected to deliver an average daily production rate of 46,000 to 48,000 boepd with an estimated 2013 production exit rate of approximately 49,000 to 52,000 boepd.