W&T’s capital expenditure budget for 2023 is expected to be in the range of $90 million to $110 million, which excludes acquisition opportunities. Included in this range are planned expenditures related to long-lead items, front-end engineering design and other work for one deepwater well and three shelf wells that may be drilled later this year, as well as capital costs for facilities, leasehold, seismic, and recompletions. The Company has significant flexibility to adjust its spending since it has no long-term rig commitments or near-term drilling obligations.

Plugging and abandonment expenditures are expected to be in the range of $25 million to $35 million. The Company spent $76.2 million on asset retirement obligation settlements in 2022, driven by obligations and prior deferrals on terminated leases with U.S. Bureau of Safety and Environmental Enforcement deadlines before year-end 2022.

Tracy W. Krohn, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated:
“Our 2023 plans have been developed to facilitate continued success, which includes implementing organic drilling, recompletion and workover opportunities to take advantage of our substantial inventory of projects with potentially high rates of return. Additionally, with improved financial flexibility and meaningful liquidity, we will continue to evaluate accretive acquisition opportunities that meet our criteria, while continuing to focus on free cash flow generation. We are also considering opportunities to enter the carbon capture market to utilize our extensive expertise in managing GOM reservoirs as well as potentially utilizing our properties and infrastructure. We have a successful track record of executing our strategic vision and remain committed to growing shareholder value.”

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