Vermilion Energy Q1 & AGM 2025 Earnings Report

Vermilion Energy EPS Results

• Actual EPS: $0.07
• Consensus EPS: $0.17
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$0.10
• One Year Ago EPS: N/A

Vermilion Energy Revenue Results

• Actual Revenue: $395.26 million
• Expected Revenue: $569.00 million
• Beat/Miss: Missed by -$173.74 million
• YoY Revenue Growth: N/A

Vermilion Energy Announcement Details

• Quarter: Q1 & AGM 2025
• Date: 5/7/2025
• Time: After Market Closes
• Conference Call Date: Wednesday, May 7, 2025
• Conference Call Time: 5:00PM ET

Vermilion Energy (NYSE:VET) is a Canadian-based international oil and gas producer headquartered in Calgary, Alberta. Established in 1994, the company focuses on the exploration, development and production of crude oil and natural gas reserves through its wholly owned and joint venture assets. Vermilion’s upstream operations target a balance of oil and gas projects across various regions, with an emphasis on high-quality resource plays that can deliver stable cash flow and long-term reserves replacement.

Vermilion’s product portfolio includes light and medium crude oil, heavy oil, natural gas and natural gas liquids (NGLs). The company’s upstream teams employ both conventional and enhanced recovery techniques to optimize production rates and recoverable reserves. This approach allows Vermilion to adapt to market conditions and maintain operational flexibility throughout the commodity price cycle.

The company maintains a broadly diversified asset portfolio spanning North America, Europe and Australia. In Canada, Vermilion operates primarily in the provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan with a mix of conventional and heavy oil assets. Its U.S. presence is concentrated in the Illinois Basin and other onshore plays. In Europe, Vermilion holds gas and oil interests in France, the Netherlands and Germany, while its Australian operations focus on offshore gas concessions that supply regional markets.

Since its inception, Vermilion has grown through a combination of organic development and strategic acquisitions. The company is overseen by an experienced management team and board of directors that prioritize operational efficiency, environmental stewardship and disciplined capital allocation. Vermilion continues to seek opportunities to enhance its asset base and maintain a balanced portfolio capable of delivering long-term value to stakeholders.

Vermilion Energy Q1 & AGM 2025 Earnings Call Transcript

Key Takeaways

• Q1 production rose 23% to 103,000 BOE/d following the Westbrook acquisition, with integration ahead of plan and $100 million of operational and development synergies identified.
• Generated $256 million of funds flow and $74 million of free cash flow in Q1, returning $37 million to shareholders through dividends and buybacks, while maintaining a resilient $0.13/share quarterly dividend.
• Ended Q1 with $2 billion of net debt (1.7× trailing funds flow) and launched a formal divestment process for Saskatchewan and Wyoming assets to accelerate debt reduction.
• Montney development advanced with the ADA IV pad and Phase II infrastructure expansion ahead of schedule and under budget, achieving a new $9 million per well drilling and completion cost—$600,000 below prior pads and translating to ~$100 million of future cost savings.
• Germany deep gas program delivered three exploration wells with a 41 MMcf/d restricted test at Visselhorst, proved up 85 Bcf (60 Bcf net) of reserves, and unveiled a structure with up to six more follow-up locations, representing an NPV₁₀ of ~$150 million.

Presentation

[Operator]

Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Vermilion Energy's Virtual 2025 Annual General Meeting. Following the formal portion of the meeting, a presentation will be given by Dion Hatcher, Vermilion's President and Chief Executive Officer. As a reminder, this event is being broadcast live on the internet and is being recorded. The archived event will be posted on Vermilion's website under the heading "Invest with Us," and subheading "Events and Presentations." To participate in the discussion or ask a question during the formal portion of the meeting, or ask a question during our presentation, select the Messaging tab, type your comment, and click the Send button. I would now like to turn the conference call over to Myron Stadnyk, Vermilion's Chair of the Board. Please go ahead, Mr. Stadnyk.

[Myron M. Stadnyk, Chair of the Board at Vermilion Energy]

Thank you. Good afternoon and welcome to the 2025 Annual General Meeting of the Shareholders of Vermilion Energy. My name is Myron Stadnyk, and as Chair of the Board of Directors of Vermilion, it is my responsibility and privilege to act as the Chair of this meeting. I welcome our registered shareholders, proxy holders, and all guests that are joining this meeting through our virtual meeting platform. We are excited to have your participation in the meeting, and thank you for your interest in the affairs of Vermilion. As per our custom, Vermilion acknowledges the traditional lands on which we work and live. We respect the histories, languages, and cultures of the Indigenous people where we operate, and their continuing connection to the land, waters, and community, and we pay our respects to elders past and present.

[Myron M. Stadnyk, Chair of the Board at Vermilion Energy]

I would now like to introduce the other independent directors of Vermilion here with us today: James Kleckner Jr., Karen Nickel, Stephen Lark, William Roby, Manjit Sharma, and Judy Steele. I would also like to introduce Dion Hatcher, our President and CEO and Director, and Lars Glemser, our Vice President and CFO. In addition, present on this call are members of our executive team. In terms of our agenda today, I will deal first with the formal business of the meeting as described in the circular. Immediately following the formal business, Dion Hatcher will provide you with an overview of our business and strategy. A question period will then follow. As this meeting is being held virtually via live webcast, I will now ask Tamar Epstein, our General Counsel and Corporate Secretary, to go over the procedures for the orderly conduct of this meeting.

[Tamar Epstein, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Vermilion Energy]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. I will now review the procedures. Only registered shareholders and proxy holders who have properly logged in with their control numbers or username will be able to vote on the motions being brought forth or ask questions. Questions in respect of a motion can be submitted by any registered shareholder or proxy holder using the instant messaging service of the virtual interface. Questions will be forwarded to the Chair shortly after they are submitted, but will only be addressed if they relate to procedural matters or to the motions before the meeting. Questions which do not relate to procedural matters or to the motions before the meeting will be addressed during the question period at the end of the meeting. Questions which were already answered or that are redundant or repetitive will not be addressed, and all matters will be conducted by electronic ballot.

[Tamar Epstein, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary at Vermilion Energy]

The polls have been opened by our scrutineers, and registered shareholders and proxy holders who have not already voted or who wish to change their votes may do so in each business item until the polls are closed following the presentation of the formal business. If we encounter any technical difficulties with the webcast, please remain logged on, and we will resume as soon as possible.

[Myron M. Stadnyk, Chair of the Board at Vermilion Energy]

Thank you, Tamar. The meeting will now come to order. I will ask Tamar Epstein to act as Secretary and the representatives of Odyssey Trust Company to act as scrutineers. To ensure that this meeting covers all the business for which it was convened within a reasonable amount of time, we have arranged for certain Vermilion representatives, who are also shareholders, to move and second certain motions. As mentioned, the polls are now open, and at this time, all registered shareholders and proxy holders who have logged in with their control numbers or username and wish to vote will be able to see on the screen all motions being brought forth. Please register your votes by selecting the "For" or the "Withhold Against" button next to each item to be voted on.

[Myron M. Stadnyk, Chair of the Board at Vermilion Energy]

If a registered shareholder or proxy holder has already voted on all matters, there is no need to vote again unless you wish to change your vote on a matter. To my knowledge, the decision of the meeting will be in favor of each resolution to be considered. The scrutineer will compile a report regarding the voting results once all votes have been conducted and the polls have closed. I have received confirmation from Odyssey Trust Company that all materials in respect of the meeting were delivered to shareholders in compliance with the applicable securities requirements. I direct that the affidavit, together with copies of the documents delivered to the shareholders, be filed with the minutes. I have been advised by the scrutineers that there is a quorum present at this meeting. Accordingly, I declare that this meeting is regularly called and properly constituted for the transaction of business.

[Myron M. Stadnyk, Chair of the Board at Vermilion Energy]

I direct that the scrutineers' report be filed with the minutes. The first item of business is to table the consolidated audited financial statements of Vermilion Energy for the year ended December 31, 2024, and the report of the auditors thereon. A copy of these materials has been mailed to each registered shareholder who elected to receive such. Any questions relating to the financial statements can be raised later during the question period. The next item of business is to fix the number of directors of the company to be elected at eight. May I have a motion?

[Kyle Preston, Company Representative and Shareholder at Vermilion Energy]

Mr. Chair, my name is Kyle Preston, and I am a representative of Vermilion and a shareholder. I move that the number of directors of the company to be elected to be fixed at eight.

[Averyl Schraven, VP of People and Culture and Shareholder at Vermilion Energy]

Mr. Chair, my name is Averyl Schraven, and I am a representative of Vermilion and a shareholder. I second the motion.

[Myron M. Stadnyk, Chair of the Board at Vermilion Energy]

Thank you, Kyle and Avril. Any discussion? As there is no further discussion, I will ask registered shareholders and proxy holders who have not already done so to cast their votes through the online portal. The next item of business is the election of the company's directors. As noted in the circular, the board has adopted an advance notice bylaw, which provides a procedure to be followed for the nomination of directors at shareholder meetings. There were no other nominations received within the requirements of the advance notice bylaw. Therefore, the only individuals entitled to be nominated as directors at this meeting are the persons named as nominees in the circular as directed by the board. I will ask Ms. Schraven, our VP of People and Culture and a shareholder, to read the nominees.

[Averyl Schraven, VP of People and Culture and Shareholder at Vermilion Energy]

Thank you, Mr. Chair. The following people are hereby nominated to act as directors of Vermilion: Myron M. Stadnyk, Dion Hatcher, James J. Kleckner Jr., Karen S. Nickel, Stephen P. Lark, William B. Roby, Manjit K. Sharma, and Judy A. Steele.

[Myron M. Stadnyk, Chair of the Board at Vermilion Energy]

May I have a motion to elect Vermilion's director nominees as directors of the company?

[Kyle Preston, Company Representative and Shareholder at Vermilion Energy]

Mr. Chair, I move that Vermilion's director nominees be elected directors of the company until the next annual meeting of shareholders or until their successors are elected or appointed.

[Averyl Schraven, VP of People and Culture and Shareholder at Vermilion Energy]

Mr. Chair, I second the motion.

[Myron M. Stadnyk, Chair of the Board at Vermilion Energy]

Thank you. Any discussion? As there is no further discussion, I will ask registered shareholders and proxy holders who have not already done so to cast their votes through the online portal. In accordance with the company's majority voting policy, we will conduct the election on an individual basis for each director. The next item of business is the appointment of the company's auditors. May I have a motion?

[Averyl Schraven, VP of People and Culture and Shareholder at Vermilion Energy]

Mr. Chair, I move that Deloitte LLP be appointed auditors of the company until the next annual meeting of shareholders or until their successors are appointed, and that the directors of the company be authorized to fix their remuneration as such.

[Kyle Preston, Company Representative and Shareholder at Vermilion Energy]

Mr. Chair, I second the motion.

[Myron M. Stadnyk, Chair of the Board at Vermilion Energy]

Thank you. Any discussion? As there is no further discussion, I will ask registered shareholders and proxy holders who have not already done so to cast their votes through the online portal. The next item of business is the approval on an advisory non-binding basis of the company's approach to executive compensation. May I please have a motion?

[Kyle Preston, Company Representative and Shareholder at Vermilion Energy]

Mr. Chair, I move that the related resolution as set out in the circular be approved.

[Averyl Schraven, VP of People and Culture and Shareholder at Vermilion Energy]

Mr. Chair, I second the motion.

[Myron M. Stadnyk, Chair of the Board at Vermilion Energy]

Thank you. Any discussion? As there is no further discussion, I will ask registered shareholders and proxy holders who have not already done so to cast their votes through the online portal. The final item of business is the approval of the unallocated entitlements under the company's Omnibus Incentive Plan. May I have a motion for this item?

[Averyl Schraven, VP of People and Culture and Shareholder at Vermilion Energy]

Mr. Chair, I move that the related resolution as set out in the circular be approved.

[Kyle Preston, Company Representative and Shareholder at Vermilion Energy]

Mr. Chair, I second the motion.

[Myron M. Stadnyk, Chair of the Board at Vermilion Energy]

Thank you. Any discussion? As there is no further discussion, I will ask registered shareholders and proxy holders who have not already done so to cast their votes through the online portal. We will provide registered shareholders and proxy holders a few more moments to complete the electronic ballots before we close the polls. Once the electronic balloting closes, the voting page will disappear, and your votes will automatically be submitted. Odyssey, please close the polls. I would ask that the scrutineer now compile the report regarding the voting results. I have been advised by the scrutineers that greater than a majority of the votes cast at this meeting have been voted in favor of the resolutions. Accordingly, I declare all motions carried.

[Myron M. Stadnyk, Chair of the Board at Vermilion Energy]

I direct that the results of the poll be included with the minutes, and the results of the voting will be announced in a press release in accordance with the policies of the TSX and filed on SEDAR. As there is no further business to come before the meeting, I declare the formal part of this meeting concluded. Before turning it over to Dion Hatcher, our President and Chief Executive Officer, I'd like to extend my thanks to our management team and employees around the world for their dedication to Vermilion. Dion Hatcher will now provide an update on our business and strategy.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

Thank you, Mayer. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We'll now move to the informal part of our AGM. We'll provide an update on our Q1 2025 results announced this afternoon and our outlook for the remainder of 2025 and beyond. As a reminder, this presentation can be found on our website under Invest with Us in Events and Presentations. Please refer to our advisory and forward-looking statements at the end of the presentation. It describes the forward-looking information, non-GAAP measures, and oil and gas terms used today, and it aligns risk factors and assumptions relevant to this discussion. Production for the first quarter increased 23% to just over 103,000 boe/d, reflecting the close of the Westbrick acquisition in late February and approximately one month of production contribution from acquired assets.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

Westbrick adds approximately 50,000 boe/d to our Deep Basin asset in Alberta, and future quarters will reflect the full contribution. Integration of the Westbrick acquisition is progressing ahead of plan, and post-close, we have identified an additional CAD 100 million of operational and development synergies. We generated CAD 256 million of fund flows in Q1 and CAD 74 million of free cash flow after investing CAD 182 million of E&D capital. We returned CAD 37 million to our shareholders in Q1, comprised of CAD 20 million in dividends and CAD 17 million in share buybacks. Our fixed quarterly dividend of CAD 0.13 per share, which has been increased four times since 2022, is resilient and remains well covered, representing less than 8% of our forecasted fund flow.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

With the close of the Westbrick acquisition in late February, which was predominantly funded on the balance sheet, we ended the quarter with just over CAD 2 billion of net debt or 1.7 times trailing fund flows, including Westbrick. We have ample liquidity and tenure on the balance sheet, and we have a plan to reduce debt both organically and through potential asset sales. In Q1, we launched a formal divestment process for our Saskatchewan and Wyoming assets. We have received very strong interest in these assets and are currently evaluating next steps. The first quarter was a very active quarter with several key milestones achieved. In addition to closing the Westbrick acquisition, we advanced infrastructure projects and reduced our DCET cost per well in the Mica Montney.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

We brought on production of our first deep gas exploration well in Germany, as well as proved up a large resource base with significant follow-up drilling opportunities. Our international assets contributed 28% of our Q1 production and 60% of our fund flows, while the majority of the capital was allocated to our global gas portfolio. One of the major advantages of Vermilion Energy's globally diversified asset base is our ability to harvest strong free cash flow from the mature international assets and reallocate a portion to the earlier stage growth assets, which will contribute to strong free cash flow in future years. The integration of the Westbrick acquisition is progressing ahead of plan, and we continue to identify synergies that will further strengthen the long-term value of our larger, more concentrated position in the Deep Basin.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

Vermilion now has over 1.1 million net acres of land in the Deep Basin, with current production over 75,000 boe/d, making Vermilion one of the largest producers in this prolific region. We are very pleased with the activities on the acquired Westbrick assets, and to date, we have identified multiple operational and development synergies, including longer laterals on planned wells, improved natural gas marketing opportunities, and infrastructure optimization. The company estimates the NPV10 of these synergies to be approximately CAD 100 million and anticipates additional synergies may be realized as the acquired assets are further integrated. We made significant progress on our Montney development during the quarter with the completion and tie-in of the new ADA 4 pad and the completion of the phase two infrastructure expansion, which added compression and sales line capacity. The expansion was both ahead of schedule and under budget.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

Our long-term development plan includes one more expansion phase to reach our targeted capacity of 28,000 boe/d of production by 2028, which will then translate to annual free cash flow of approximately CAD 1 50 million at CAD 3 [Akel]. This will then be supported by over 15 years of stay-flat drilling inventory once we reach that targeted rate. We have achieved a new DCET cost milestone of CAD 9 million per well on the 8-4 pad. This cost is at the lower end of our previously stated targeted cost range in comparison to the prior pads at CAD 9.6 million per well. The team has done a tremendous job improving the drilling and completion efficiencies through batch drilling, reduced water handling, completion and fallback optimization, and standardizing equipment designs. We believe these DCET costs are repeatable and could potentially go lower as further efficiencies are realized.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

A CAD 600,000 savings per well is material when applied to hundreds of drilling locations. Considering the full future development of our Mountain View asset, this cost saving would amount to approximately CAD 100 million reduction in our future development costs or an NPV10 of approximately CAD 50 million. In Germany, we are in the early stages of the exploration program on our significant land base. We have approximately 700,000 net undeveloped acres, with a large portion of this land covered by 3D seismic. The zones of interest are very similar to the Netherlands, where we have successfully drilled wells for two decades. To date, our technical team has progressed nine discrete targets, of which we have drilled three with positive results. With success, we see up to 30 locations between exploration and follow-up development, which represents a decade of drilling two to three wells per year.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

As an exploration program, we expect the success rate to be similar to the 70% that we achieved in the Netherlands. Results to date continue to validate our subsurface models and execution plans. Our team will continue to progress promising prospects across our land base, which we expect will provide strong organic growth in our Germany gas portfolio. A type curve information provided shows the size of the prize for these prospects that we are targeting. These wells are deep and high pressure and therefore more expensive than a typical well in North America. With a net present value of CAD 60 million and an F&D of approximately CAD 1.50 per MCF for premium price European gas, these are some of the most impactful wells in our portfolio. As we reported in early March, we successfully tested the Wisselhorst deep gas exploration well. That is a 64% working interest well.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

It was at a restricted combined test rate of 41 million per day from both zones. Our team is advancing debottlenecking options to optimize production due to this very high deliverability. We also completed facility and tie-in operations on the Osterheide well, which is a 100% working interest well during Q1, and brought that well in production at the end of the quarter. Since the startup in April, the well was produced at a restricted rate of approximately 7 million per day of gas or 1,200 boe/d, which is above the original constraint expectations due to the ongoing debottlenecking activities. We completed drilling operations on the third deep gas exploration well by the Moers South during the first quarter and encountered over 15 meters of net gas-charged poor sand in the Rotliegendes formation.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

We tested the well in March but did not achieve expected flow rates. This well has been suspended for the time being, while we evaluate options to improve its deliverability. We are very pleased with the overall results of our 2024 deep gas exploration program, which exceeded our expectations. From the initial nine structures the team has identified to date, we have drilled three wells and proven up 85 Wisselhorst or 60 Bcf net of reserves from these first two wells. As mentioned earlier, we recently brought the Osterheide well in production at the end of Q1, and using our current operating netbacks, that well is generating approximately CAD 2 million per month of fund flow. We expect production to moderate through the summer months due to the seasonal demand in the area before increasing later in the year with winter demand.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

The Wisselhorst well is expected to come on production the first half of 2026 at a restricted rate of approximately 800 boe/d and then increase to 3,000 boe/d by 2027 and 6,000 boe/d gross by 2028 as we debottleneck and exit through capacity. At these restricted rates, the 1.6 net wells are expected to produce approximately 27 million cubic feet per day of gas or 4,500 boe/d net to Vermilion and generate annual fund flows of approximately EUR 19 million at current Euro gas prices. After-tax, net present value over the exploration program, including the cost of all three wells and debottlenecking, is approximately EUR 150 million or EUR 1 per share. As noted in the Q4 release, the Wisselhorst well is our largest discovery in over a decade.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

More importantly, the discovery well sits in the middle of a structure with the potential to drill up to six more wells. Our midpoint estimate for this structure is 380 Bcf gross of gas in place. That equates to approximately 240 Bcf of gas in place net to Vermilion. In addition to the follow-up Wisselhorst wells, the team continues to mature our future drilling plans on multiple prospects that have been identified. As a result, we see the potential to double our 2P European gas reserves with the deep gas exploration program. It is early days in the development of this long-life, high-margin asset that is expected to add meaningful free cash flow in the years ahead. Our 2025 budget and guidance remains unchanged, although we are closely monitoring the outlook.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

Our capital program will continue to be focused on our global gas assets with continued investment in the Montney, Deep Basin, and the Germany gas program. We are focused on adding net asset value per share, as noted with the recent results in Germany, our reduced micro per well costs, and the Westbrick synergies, which combined represents approximately CAD 300 million of NPV10. That equates to CAD 2 a share of incremental value. We will continue to prioritize debt reduction with 60% of our excess free cash flow allocated to debt reduction and 40% return to shareholders in the form of dividends and share buybacks. With the Westbrick assets, we are currently producing around 135,000 boe/d and expect Q2 production to be in the 134,000-136,000 boe/d range.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

The recent market volatility resulting from the global trade war has had a negative impact on commodity prices and has increased the risk of a global economic slowdown. Vermilion is well positioned to manage through this cycle with over 50% of our production hedged for the remainder of 2025, combined with approximately CAD 1 billion of liquidity and no near-term debt maturities. Furthermore, our globally diversified asset base provides a natural hedge by minimizing our exposure to any single commodity and provides flexibility to allocate capital to our highest return projects. With our financial position and unique market advantage, we are confidently navigating this business cycle with diligence. Our thorough review of remaining capital projects for 2025 has revealed opportunities to defer certain projects if needed without having a material impact on the 2025 production.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

We will continue to closely monitor our investment activity and adjust accordingly to prioritize our balance sheet. In addition, as noted earlier, we are evaluating next steps on the potential divestment of our Saskatchewan and Wyoming assets. These divestments would significantly accelerate debt reduction and would reduce capital requirements. As is our standard practice, we update our financial forecasts each quarter based on the current strip pricing by factoring in our current hedge book. At this time, we are forecasting 2025 annual fund flows in the CAD 1 billion-CAD 1.1 billion range, with over CAD 300 million of free cash flow. Our quarterly dividend of CAD 0.13 per share equates to approximately CAD 80 million, which is less than 8% of our forecasted fund flow. Our CapEx and dividend are more than fully covered at the current pricing, while there remains excess free cash flow in the system to fund ongoing share buybacks.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

As I mentioned, we are also well positioned with over 50% of our 2025 production hedged and approximately 30% of our 2026 production hedged. We will continue to add these hedges opportunistically where we're able to lock in prices that support our capital allocation priorities. We have made several strategic investments over the past few years, including the acquisitions in the Mountain View, Deep Basin, and European gas, along with the ongoing strategic capital investments in these areas. All these initiatives have been geared towards enhancing our global gas portfolio and increasing our value per share. Through these strategic investments, we are now the fourth largest producer in the Deep Basin with long-life inventory that will support growth to over 80,000 boe/d.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

With 15 years of inventory, once we hit that target rate in the Mountain View, we have built out the majority of our strategic infrastructure that will support the long-term production of 28,000 boe/d. Again, with over 15 years of inventory at that point. In Germany, we successfully executed a three-well deep gas exploration program, making a significant discovery that will add meaningful reserves and support future development with the potential to more than double our Germany production base. The combination of these strategic initiatives further enhances Vermilion's profile as a global gas producer. The result of these efforts is increased operational scale with 80% of our production and 70% of our capital investments into our global gas portfolio. While the oil assets in our portfolio remain profitable, our focus continues to shift to our global gas portfolio, which we believe has several advantages.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

With over 100 million a day of gas production in Europe, we get direct exposure to premium prices, which drives the highest realized gas prices among our peers. We achieve this exposure without the need for multi-decade take-away commitments. Our international assets are also conventional and have lower decline rates relative to North American gas base. Therefore, they require less capital to maintain production, which contributes to the strong free cash flow profile of these assets. In addition, we are uniquely positioned to consolidate and grow our European gas portfolio with acquisitions as the majors look to divest. Our North American gas portfolio is comprised of concentrated liquids-rich gas assets in the Deep Basin and Montney, which provide attractive short-cycle returns and allow for flexible capital allocation. We're seeing the benefit of our increased operational scale with reduced E&D capital and ongoing operational cost synergies.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

On the macro side, we expect global gas demand to continue growing for decades and believe our global gas portfolio provides a foundation to support the company's long-term profitability. That concludes our prepared remarks. With that, we'd like to open it up for questions.

[Kyle Preston, Company Representative and Shareholder at Vermilion Energy]

The first question here that we have is, can you provide more details on the Wisselhorst well and future debolting that compliance? What are the infrastructure requirements? What is the cost? What is the timing?

[Myron M. Stadnyk, Chair of the Board at Vermilion Energy]

Yeah, thanks for that question, Kyle. Our first priority on this first Wisselhorst well is to get the well equipped and tied in. We expect that to complete with initial production expected in the first half of 2026.

[Myron M. Stadnyk, Chair of the Board at Vermilion Energy]

We have received approval for and have ordered all major long lead items for the required gas processing facilities at the site and have acquired pipeline right of way for the initial tie-in location into the local gathering infrastructure, which is about 2 km away. We have several different tie-in options for this well with differing production restrictions. Initially, we expect to be constrained to a flow rate of about 5 million standard cubic feet a day, with options to debottleneck this to 17.5 million cu ft a day with a second phase pipeline in 2027, for which we've begun initial environmental screenings, and then to 35 million a day with expansion of the gas processing capacity in 2028. Secondly, we anticipate that there are up to six appraisal follow-up locations on this structure.

[Myron M. Stadnyk, Chair of the Board at Vermilion Energy]

We have initiated regulatory activities on these locations and expect to spud the first of these wells in Q1 2027.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

Thanks, Darcy, for that. I mean, just to summarize and tie us back to another comment in my opening remarks there, when you add all that together with just the wells that we've drilled to date, that equates to 27 million a day of natural gas, a premium price European gas. To put that in perspective, I mean, Vermilion today is producing about 100 million a day in Europe, all across Europe. That is why we're so excited with this European German program where this 1.6 net wells can add 27 million a day of gas. Of course, we would look to grow that as we look to drill future wells and build upon that success. Thanks for the details there.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

Lots of moving parts, but the team's great job of moving that forward. Back to you, Kyle.

[Kyle Preston, Company Representative and Shareholder at Vermilion Energy]

Yep, thanks, Dion. We have another question here. What is the current production from the Westbrick assets you acquired? Can you provide more details on the synergies, what part of the cost structure they're coming from, and what should we expect for an annual cost savings?

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

Thanks, Kyle. I'll just pass it over to Brandon McLeod, our VP of North America.

[Randy McQuaig, VP of North America at Vermilion Energy]

Thanks, Dion. Yeah, our production from the Westbrick assets came in around 52,000 barrels a day for Q1, and we expect the full year production to average around 50,000 barrels a day for 2025. Coming in as planned. In terms of the synergies, as Dion had mentioned, we have identified about CAD100 million of NPV synergies since closing the Westbrick acquisition in late February.

[Randy McQuaig, VP of North America at Vermilion Energy]

Most of the immediate savings are operationally focused and related to structural changes in the business where we have reduced processing fees. We've optimized our production and marketing along with identified operating cost reductions. These have directly resulted in about CAD 5 million a year of identified savings and expect this to increase as we continue to evaluate further upside. Another portion of the synergies that we speak to are development-related, and they come from the ability to drill extended reach wells with the combined legacy Vermilion and the Westbrick lands that increase the NPV on the Vermilion portion of these wells. This value would be achieved over time as we continue the development of these assets. Overall, we can expect to achieve around CAD 10 million a year, and this should increase over time as we integrate the assets and evaluate further upside potential.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

Thanks, Brandon.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

Just to build on that, I mean, we spoke at the last call and we're really excited with the quality of the Westbrick assets and I think how complementary they are to Vermilion's land-based infrastructure. The more we work these assets, the more excited we get and we're seeing these synergies. To Randy's point, I do not think we're done yet given the great work that the teams are doing. Back to you, Kyle.

[Kyle Preston, Company Representative and Shareholder at Vermilion Energy]

Okay. Yeah, we do have another question here. Why has executive comp increased when the stock is underperforming and what are you doing to address share price underperformance?

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

I'll take that one, Kyle. I mean, good question. Again, it's not lost on myself or the management team, the stock performance most recently. I'll start with the executive compensation.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

As a reminder, a significant portion of the executive compensation is what we call at-risk compensation, meaning that it's directly linked to the corporate performance as well as the stock performance. For me personally, as CEO, over 80% of my compensation is at risk. Again, that's appropriate given my role. What that means, if you look at the realized actual compensation for 2024, it was down 13% year over year. Again, that is largely due to the impact of stock performance. The only other thing I would note is we did engage a third-party firm to come in and review our compensation program to compare it with our peers. I would say there's modest adjustments as a result of that just to kind of tweak some of the individual comp based on what is the comp for that role in industry.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

We get directly tied to the performance of the company and we brought in some external review. Finally, ISS and Glass Lewis have voted both yes for our pay programs as well, which is another vote of confidence. Back to the stock question itself, I guess two-part answer here. If you think about the year, we started quite strong. We started the year with, I would say, outperformance relative to our peers, and that was on the back of the Westbrick acquisition. Again, we are excited to have that high-quality, long-life, complementary asset base that gives us that operational scale that we have been looking for in the Deep Basin. The stock was doing quite well. We then entered a period of market volatility, and I would describe it as a risk-off period with Liberation Day and tariffs.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

I think what you see during those periods is companies that have elevated debt relative to their peers underperform, and we definitely saw that. There has been quite a bit of weakness most recently, and I think that is really short-term in focus given our elevated debt level. As stressed on the call, hopefully it came across loud and clear that we are on track with our volumes. Westbrick looks well. We are excited about Germany. We have got over CAD 1 billion of liquidity. We have got no near-term debt maturities. Our dividend is well covered. We are well hedged, and all that means we have the means and the plan to organically reduce our debt. In addition, we have got a number of options to reduce capital, which would further reduce near-term debt.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

Of course, we've talked about the potential divestments, and we're excited with the interest there, and that would materially accelerate debt reduction. Again, it's a focus of the management team in the short term. It's reducing debt, and we've got a strong, robust plan to happen over the upcoming quarters. Just to finish out then, if you zoom out, I think big picture, hopefully what our shareholders are seeing is the strategic focus to improve the business. We're transitioning to a global gas producer, one with long-life assets, one with high-quality inventory, one with a lower cost structure. I think these long-life assets will really underpin these new streams of free cash flow that are coming into the business that we would have talked about on the call. Long-winded way of saying comp is linked to corporate performance. Of course, it is.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

Short term, we're focused on debt reduction. Big picture, we're focused on the high-grading asset base, which is making us a stronger company with long-life assets.

[Kyle Preston, Company Representative and Shareholder at Vermilion Energy]

Thanks, Dion. There's no further questions online.

[Dion Hatcher, President and CEO at Vermilion Energy]

Okay. There's no further questions. I want to, first of all, thank our staff and all our contractors who work for us throughout the organization. We're very fortunate to have such a strong workforce day in, day out. These milestones that we talked about are only achieved due to the hard work of our employees. I want to sincerely thank them for that. In conclusion, thank you everyone for participating in our 2025 AGM and the conference call today.

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, this concludes your conference call for today. We thank you for participating and ask that you please disconnect your lines.

Participants

Executives

• Randy McQuaig, VP of North America
• Averyl Schraven, VP of People and Culture and Shareholder
• Tamar Epstein, General Counsel and Corporate Secretary
• Kyle Preston, Company Representative and Shareholder
• Myron M. Stadnyk, Chair of the Board
• Dion Hatcher, President and CEO