Past year: ▲ 16%(88.0c – 1.52 USD)
Each one in plain English, with the numbers worked through for a shareholder.
20 Sept 2016material agreement▲ GoodMajor
USE agreed to buy 40% of IronHorse Resources' interest in five Wattenberg-area (Weld County, Colorado) farmout agreements covering 21 planned horizontal wells targeting the Niobrara and Codell formations - a roughly $9.6 million drilling commitment for an average 11.6% working interest - though a board member has an ownership stake in IronHorse, and the deal was contingent on USE proving it had the funding within weeks.
12 Feb 2016asset acquisition disposition▲ GoodMajor
USE finally exited its decades-old Mount Emmons/Lucky Jack molybdenum project, transferring the mine site and its costly water-treatment-plant obligations to a Freeport-McMoRan subsidiary - but had to pay for the privilege, issuing Freeport $2 million (liquidation value) of new senior preferred stock carrying a 12.25% paid-in-kind dividend and convertible into up to 16.86% of USE's common stock, plus board-observer rights, in exchange for Freeport taking the environmental liability off its books.
14 July 2015listing compliance notice▼ BadMajor
USE fell out of Nasdaq compliance after its stock averaged just $0.74 over 30 trading days, below the $1.00 minimum bid price rule, giving it 180 days (extendable to a year) to regain compliance or face delisting.
7 Apr 2014production update▲ GoodMajor
USE's new Buda Limestone wells with Contango and U.S. Enercorp delivered strong, oil-rich initial rates (up to 1,185 BOE/d on one well) using open-hole completions without fracture stimulation - early validation of the strategic pivot toward this play.
11 Feb 2014production update▲ GoodMajor
USE set a $30.2 million 2014 budget centered on a new focus, the Buda Limestone formation in South Texas (Booth-Tortuga, now operated by Contango Oil & Gas, and the Big Wells block operated by U.S. Enercorp) alongside continued Williston Basin drilling and $8 million set aside for further acreage or producing-property acquisitions.
16 Sept 2013asset acquisition disposition▲ GoodMajor
USE closed the sale of its Remington Village apartment complex in Gillette, Wyoming for $15 million, paying off a $9.5 million note against the property and netting about $5 million to redeploy into oil and gas development or debt reduction - shedding a non-core real estate asset to focus on its energy business.
25 July 2013material agreement▲ GoodMajor
USE refinanced its revolving credit facility with a new lead lender, Wells Fargo, replacing BNP Paribas - extending the facility to 2017, lowering its interest margins, and setting a $25 million borrowing base.
7 Jan 2013production update● NeutralMajor
USE set a $27.1 million 2013 oil and gas budget that shifted strategy - only $7.1 million for organic Williston Basin drilling but $20 million earmarked for buying producing properties outright, while South Texas drilling was paused pending nearby operators' results - and separately budgeted $5.4 million to keep advancing the Mount Emmons molybdenum project, including buying out partner Thompson Creek's interest in an adjacent property, after filing a formal Mine Plan of Operations with the U.S. Forest Service in October 2012.
17 Sept 2012production update▼ BadMajor
USE's new Woodbine Sub-Clarksville 7 project in northeast Texas (a 26.5% working interest acquired in May 2012) came up mostly empty - six of seven back-to-back test wells were dry holes, and the one well that found hydrocarbons saw the zone water out - while its Eagle Ford and Williston Basin wells kept producing modest, unremarkable results.
14 June 2012production update▲ GoodMajor
USE reported solid initial rates (1,000-1,400+ BOE/d) on three more participated Williston Basin wells - including its first well with new operator Slawson Exploration, albeit at a token 1% working interest - and closed a separate sale of its Montana leasehold acreage.
31 Jan 2012production update▲ GoodMajor
More strong Bakken results (a new well at 1,869 BOE/d, another offsetting the program's best-ever well) and continued Eagle Ford progress, plus USE entered a new participation agreement for an Oakville oil prospect in Live Oak County, Texas.
26 Jan 2012asset acquisition disposition▲ GoodMajor
USE monetized undeveloped Bakken acreage it wasn't going to drill itself, selling 75% of its Yellowstone/SE HR leasehold to GeoResources and Yuma for $16.7 million (on top of a $13.7 million sale of undeveloped Rough Rider acreage to Brigham the month before) while keeping its working interests in producing wells; separately, it listed its Remington Village apartment complex (Gillette, WY) for sale and flagged an expected non-cash impairment on that real estate asset.
21 Dec 2011material agreement▲ GoodMajor
USE approved a $48.1 million 2012 drilling budget across its Eagle Ford, Williston Basin and San Joaquin programs, projected a 70% jump in average daily production for 2012, sold part of its undeveloped Rough Rider acreage to Brigham, and reported a strong 1,840 BOE/d initial rate from its latest Zavanna well.
15 Nov 2011production update▲ GoodMajor
USE reported a second successful Zavanna-operated Bakken well (Koufax 3-10 #1H, 1,660 BOE/d) validating a new acreage block, while simultaneously advancing wells across three other programs: Eagle Ford (Crimson), a new California test well with Cirque Resources, and ongoing Gulf Coast completions.
23 Sept 2011security holder rights change● Neutral
USE's decade-old shareholder rights plan (poison pill), first adopted in 2001, expired on its own terms with no replacement adopted.
11 July 2011drilling progress report▼ Bad
USE's new Colorado exploration well reached total depth but found no hydrocarbons in its target formation and was plugged and abandoned, with no further drilling planned on that acreage - a clean dry hole after the company's first operated well there.
5 July 2011farm in farm out agreement▲ GoodMajor
USE entered a second Eagle Ford participation deal with Crimson Exploration, acquiring 30% of Crimson's working interest in about 7,186 acres (2,156 net to USE) in Zavala and Dimmit Counties, Texas - bringing USE's total Eagle Ford position to roughly 11,861 gross acres with up to 70 potential drilling locations, complementing its existing Leona River acreage with the same partner.
28 June 2011drilling progress report▲ GoodMajor
USE's Rough Rider Bakken wells with Brigham kept delivering strong results - four wells completed in Q2 2011 with initial rates as high as 2,375 BOE/d, and all 15 spacing units now held by production - though unusually severe North Dakota flooding disrupted access to some sites; separately, USE spudded its first well on a new operated Colorado prospect.
7 Apr 2011drilling progress report▲ GoodMajor
USE's Bakken position with Brigham Exploration was accelerating - four wells nearing completion, offsetting a well that had already delivered the company's best-ever initial rate of over 4,000 BOE/d - while its non-operated Zavanna wells saw its working interests bumped up (other partners declining to participate); separately, BNP Paribas raised USE's credit facility borrowing base from $12 million to $22.5 million.
8 Feb 2011drilling progress report▲ Good
USE gave a routine update on its scattered small-working-interest Gulf Coast drilling program with four different partners (PetroQuest, Yuma, Houston Energy and Southern Resources): 2010 production exited the year at 535 BOE/d, a new Louisiana well just began producing, and several more modest-interest wells were spudding or about to spud on a $3.8 million 2011 budget.
2 Aug 2010material agreement▲ GoodMajor
USE set up a $75 million revolving credit facility with BNP Paribas, run through a new wholly-owned borrowing subsidiary (Energy One LLC) and guaranteed by USE itself, with an initial borrowing base of $12 million against its oil and gas properties - undrawn at signing but real growth-financing capacity for the new drilling programs.
21 Jan 2010production update▲ GoodMajor
USE elected to join a third group of five Bakken wells with Brigham (taking a bigger 50% interest since Brigham scaled back its own share) and reported production had already beaten its year-end target, exiting 2009 at 1,400 net barrels of oil equivalent per day versus a 1,200 goal.
16 Dec 2009material agreement▲ GoodMajor
USE raised about $24.3 million in a firm-commitment stock offering, selling 5 million shares at $5.25 through Madison Williams, funding it needed to expand its new Bakken drilling program.
28 Aug 2009material agreement▲ GoodMajor
USE entered a much larger drilling partnership with Brigham Oil & Gas to jointly explore the Bakken and Three Forks formations across up to 19,200 acres of Brigham's Rough Rider prospect in North Dakota, committing an expected $17.5-19 million to drill an initial six wells - the start of USE's real Bakken exposure.
27 July 2009drilling progress report▲ Good
USE spudded a third well with Houston Energy, this time taking a larger 25% working interest in a Louisiana oil prospect, while its first well from the partnership was on track to begin producing by mid-September 2009.
11 May 2009drilling progress report● Neutral
USE spudded its first well under a new participation deal with Houston Energy, taking a 10% working interest in a Matagorda County, Texas oil and gas prospect for a modest ~$216,000 commitment to the casing-point decision.
12 Nov 2008auditor change● Neutral
USE dismissed longtime auditor Moss Adams after its mandated five-year relationship review and hired Hein & Associates instead, specifically for its expertise in the minerals sector; no disagreements were reported.
20 Aug 2008material agreement▲ GoodMajor
USE found that larger partner within months: Thompson Creek Metals signed a new option and joint-venture agreement for Lucky Jack, able to earn up to 50% of the project through staged spending and option payments totaling $50 million by 2018 - essentially replacing the Kobex deal that had just collapsed.
1 Apr 2008material agreement termination▼ BadMajor
Kobex Resources terminated its option to earn up to 50% of USE's Lucky Jack molybdenum project in Colorado, citing regulatory and legal uncertainty, after already spending over $8 million on it - handing full ownership of the project back to USE, which said it would consider bringing in a larger mining partner.
27 Nov 2007asset acquisition disposition▲ GoodMajor
Crested's minority shareholders approved the merger and it closed - Crested ceased to exist as a separate company, with USE issuing up to about 2.9 million shares to former Crested holders at the agreed 2-for-1 ratio.
