Canadian royalty company PrairieSky Royalty Ltd. added CA$8.8 million (US$6.44 million) of gross overriding royalty interests targeting Alberta’s Mannville heavy and light oil to its asset base in the first quarter of 2024.

The acquisition was funded with excess earnings from the CA$83 million (US$60.75 million) generated from operations. The company had grown its oil royalty production in the first quarter to a record 13,142 bbl/d, 2% higher than the previous quarter. Growth was primarily generated from the Mannville Stack and Clearwater heavy oil plays.

Oil royalty production delivered CA$92.3 million (US$67.55 million) in royalty revenue, 82% of total royalty revenue. NGL royalty volumes added an incremental $10.2 million of royalty revenue and natural gas royalty volumes added CA$10.7 million (US$7.83 million).

PrairieSky also entered into 50 new leases to earn an aggregate CA$4.2 million (US$3.07 million) in bonus consideration, focused primarily on Mannville medium and heavy oil targets with 40 wells spud and in the Duvernay with 14 wells spud. In Northwest Alberta and British Columbia, there were 14 liquids-rich natural gas wells spud in the Montney and six in the Mannville.

The company also used excess funds to focus on reducing debt in the first quarter, cutting CA$13.8 million (US$10.1 million) from Dec. 31, 2023, to CA$208.3 million (US$152.45 million) in net debt.

PrarieSky also declared a quarterly dividend of CA$0.25 (US$0.18) per share.